Next On Schumer’s Agenda: Giant Budget Bill With New Health Spending

Politico: Schumer Says He Has Votes For Moving $3.5 Trillion Package
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that all 50 Democrats will vote to move forward on the party’s $3.5 trillion social spending proposal. Schumer’s remarks come after the Senate took the first step to advance a $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure framework Wednesday evening. The New York Democrat has long insisted that the Senate will pass both the bipartisan bill and a budget blueprint for the multitrillion-dollar legislative package before the chamber leaves for the August recess. (Levine, 7/29)

NBC News: Biden's Two-Track Infrastructure Push Keeps Chugging Along
The $3.5 trillion reconciliation plan is only a loose outline for now that will take months to fill in. For one thing, there's no guarantee it stays $3.5 trillion, and finding enough revenue and savings to pay for it could be difficult. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., said in a statement Wednesday that she wanted to spend less (by how much is unclear) drawing a sharp rebuke from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. (Todd, Murray, Kamisar and Sarlin, 7/29)

The Washington Post: Schumer Faces Key Test On Infrastructure And Biden Agenda 
Just hours after Georgia voters elected two Democrats, flipping the Senate majority, on Jan. 5, Sen. Charles E. Schumer reveled in the victory and said his caucus — handed power for the first time in six years — was “committed to delivering the bold change and help that Americans need and demand.” In the months since, Schumer has repeatedly promised “big and bold” solutions to the problems ailing America. He now may be on the cusp of delivering them amid his most perilous test of leadership yet, with a bipartisan infrastructure deal moving closer to fruition, a multi-trillion-dollar economic and social policy plan waiting in the wings, and the fate of President Biden’s governing agenda hanging in the balance. (DeBonis, 7/29)

Axios: The Infrastructure Deal's Winners And Losers In Health Care 
Providers can breathe a sigh of relief: Congress isn't planning on repurposing unspent money from the pandemic provider relief fund, at least not yet. The White House finally reached an infrastructure deal with a bipartisan group of senators yesterday, paid for in part with health care policies. (Owens, 7/29)

The New York Times: How Biden Got The Infrastructure Deal Trump Couldn’t 
President Biden’s success at propelling an infrastructure deal past its first major hurdle this week was a vindication of his faith in bipartisanship and a repudiation of the slash-and-burn politics of his immediate predecessor, President Donald J. Trump, who tried and failed to block it. Having campaigned as the anti-Trump — an insider who regarded compromise as a virtue, rather than a missed opportunity to crush a rival — Mr. Biden has held up the promise of a broad infrastructure accord not just as a policy priority but as a test of the fundamental rationale for his presidency. (Tankersley, 7/29)

In related news from Capitol Hill —

The New York Times: Biden Signals Support For Democrats’ Plan To Advance Immigration Changes Unilaterally, Via A Budget Bill.
President Biden said on Thursday night that he supported a plan championed by congressional Democrats to use a legislative process intended for budget-related measures to bypass Republican opposition and legalize millions of undocumented immigrants. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, has been quietly exploring whether it would be possible to attach a broad revision of immigration laws to a $3.5 trillion budget plan that Democrats intend to pass unilaterally through a fast-track process known as budget reconciliation. (Karni, 7/29)

The New York Times: Biden To Meet With Top Democrats On New Voting Rights Proposal
President Biden and the top Democrats in Congress are expected to meet at the White House on Friday to discuss their party’s faltering efforts to pass major voting rights legislation, according to two congressional aides familiar with the plans. Mr. Biden’s meeting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York comes at a crucial moment, as activists are pushing the president to use his power and Democrats’ control of Congress to protect voting rights while they have the chance. Republican-led states have enacted at least 30 new laws containing a host of new restrictions on voting, and G.O.P. senators have blocked consideration of a Democratic bill that would impose sweeping new federal mandates aimed at overriding them. (Fandos and Corasaniti, 7/29)

In other news from the White House —

CNBC: Jill Biden Had A Sharp Object Removed From Her Foot At The Hospital
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden had a sharp object removed from her left foot by doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Thursday, her office said. “Last weekend, prior to her two official events in Hawaii, the First Lady stepped on an object on the beach which became lodged in her left foot,” said spokesman Michael LaRosa. LaRosa said Biden underwent “a procedure today at [Walter Reed] to remove the object.” (Wilkie, 7/29)

The Washington Post: Jill Biden Sent To Hospital After Getting Object Lodged In Her Foot In Hawaii
For the second time this year, President Biden has cleared his schedule to accompany his wife, Jill Biden, to a medical procedure. ... After meeting with lawmakers about immigration, the president left the White House in Marine One just after 7 p.m. to be at the first lady’s side. “I’m late for a very important date” he joked, after jogging up to reporters. While at the hospital he walked outside to his SUV for about ten minutes to make a phone call. He and the first lady left the hospital at about 9:45 p.m. to return to the White House. (Yuan, 7/29)