US Democrats face consequential week on infrastructure overhaul

Pending legislation could have wide-ranging implications for midterm elections and Biden’s domestic approval.

The United States Congress is set to consider two pieces of key infrastructure legislation in the coming days, in a week for Democrats that is expected to have wide-ranging implications for the presidency of Joe Biden and next year’s midterm elections.

Democrats’ ability to unify behind two infrastructure bills – one a $1 trillion package aimed at physical infrastructure, the other, a $3.5 trillion package that encompasses social investments – would represent a significant move towards the nation’s largest tax and spending priorities overhaul in decades. It would also prove a big success for the bedrock policies of the Biden administration.

“Let me just say, it’s an eventful week,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful Democrat in the chamber, told ABC’s This Week programme.