Kelsey Snell

House Democrats are further expanding the definition of infrastructure with a plan to provide paid leave and family benefits for the vast majority of Americans.

The five-year spending outline is much more narrowly focused on traditional infrastructure than the president's sweeping proposal.

They are introducing legislation that would eliminate tuition and fees at public, four-year institutions for those from families earning up to $125,000 and make community college free for everyone.

The pandemic, a changing party makeup and a softening approach to debt and deficit have combined to give the party space to embrace expensive policies that would have been unheard of a few years ago.

The core of the Democratic Party has worked to avoid words like redistribution and labels like socialist. But in the past three months many Democrats are embracing a new era of big government.

The decision from the nonpartisan parliamentarian means Democrats could advance more of President Biden's agenda without the support of Republicans.

Organizers say abolishing the 60-vote procedural hurdle is a way to follow through on electoral promises. But Republicans insist the maneuver isn't racist — and note its past use by Democrats.

Democrats say voter protections, police reform, climate change — virtually the entire Biden agenda — will be abandoned if the Senate does not abolish the filibuster.

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders helped push Democrats to the left in two presidential campaigns. As chairman of the budget committee, he's working to drive the Democratic Party from the inside.

Sanders will introduce legislation Thursday to restore the corporate tax rate to 35% and add a new progressive tax on the estates of the wealthiest Americans.

The House of Representatives approved a $1.9 trillion coronavirus spending bill that now heads to President Biden's desk for his signature. No Republicans voted for the measure.

Democrats hold narrow majorities in the House and Senate and moderates in their caucus are already having an outsized impact. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin got concessions in the COVID-19 bill.

President Biden's far-reaching coronavirus relief package is a step closer to becoming law. After Senate passage Saturday, it goes back to the House this week for final approval.

The change is a compromise between progressive members who wanted enhanced benefits for several more months and moderate Democrats who wanted to curb the weekly payments.

The new changes come after leaders agreed to narrow the income eligibility for those getting the next round of stimulus checks, as some moderate Democrats wanted. GOP amendments are expected to fail.

Moderate Democrats have demanded that the $1,400 stimulus checks be targeted at low- and moderate-income people. The change, if adopted, means the House will need to vote again on the package.

On top of the small business loans and money for health care included in previous bills, the latest round of relief includes longtime Democratic priorities for lifting people out of poverty.

The Senate parliamentarian informed lawmakers that a plan to gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025 does not fit the complicated rules that govern budget bills in the Senate.

Democrats are using the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill to introduce measures they say will reduce poverty. People already at risk for falling behind have seen big setbacks over the past year.

The House Budget Committee is expected to pass the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, setting up a partisan vote in the full House later this week.