President Joe Biden’s pitch for bipartisan unity to defeat the coronavirus and resurrect the economy is crashing into a partisan buzz saw on Capitol Hill.
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14 Jan, 2021 Author Molly ChristianZack HaleEllie Potter
A seven-foot-tall fence protects the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., as lawmakers prepare for President-elect Joe Biden s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Source: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News via Getty Images
Democrats in the U.S. Congress are said to be considering a budget reconciliation measure that could include provisions to address climate change and boost support for clean energy.
But policy experts and lawmakers are divided on how much climate action could be accomplished through reconciliation. A reconciliation bill which instructs certain committees to change spending, revenues or deficits by specific amounts only requires a simple majority in the Senate rather than the 60 votes typically needed to end debate on legislation in the upper chamber.