Can the Senate pass the Build Back Better bill before Christmas?

Capitol building christmas.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In a Monday "Dear Colleague" letter, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) reiterated his goal for the Senate to finish and pass the Build Back Better bill "before Christmas and get it to the president's desk." But with Christmas Eve only 18 days away, can Democrats pull it off? Here's why Schumer's goal might be more optimistic than it appears, per Politico.

For one thing, four of the 12 Senate committees working to draft the bill have yet to submit final text to the Parliamentarian, "which needs to consider whether any provisions violate the Byrd rule; to the Congressional Budget Office, which needs to score the legislation; and to Senate Republicans, who will be sure to scrub it for political landmines," Politico writes.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.