Senate Democrats announce $3.5 trillion budget agreement

(Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images)

Senate Democrats announced Tuesday that they have reached a budget agreement among themselves that envisions spending an enormous $3.5 trillion over the coming decade. 

The fiscal plan would pave the way for Democrats' drive to direct a huge pool of federal resources at climate change, health care and family-service programs sought by President Joe Biden. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced the accord flanked by all 11 Democrats on the chamber's budget committee after a two-hour evening meeting that capped weeks of bargaining among party leaders, progressives and moderates.

If congressional Democrats rally behind the proposal and turn it into a budget resolution they can push through Congress in coming weeks, it would help them enact a subsequent, sweeping bill that would actually fund their priorities. 

That's because the budget resolution contains language that would let Democrats move the huge spending bill through the Senate with just a simple majority, not the 60 votes Republicans could demand by using a bill-killing filibuster.

"We are very proud of this plan," Schumer told reporters. "We know we have a long road to go. We're going to get this done for the sake of making average Americans lives a whole lot better." 

Associated Press writer Alan Fram in Washington contributed to this report.

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