• Schumer sets vote to begin debate on infrastructure bill,

WASHINGTON Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pressured lawmakers Thursday to reach agreement by next week on a pair of massive domestic spending measures, signaling Democrats’ desire to push ahead on President Joe Biden’s multi-trillion-dollar agenda.

Mr. Schumer, D-N.Y., said he was scheduling a procedural vote for next Wednesday to begin debate on a still-evolving bipartisan infrastructure bill. Senators from both parties have struggled to reach agreement on a $1 trillion package of highway, water systems and other public works projects.

Mr. Schumer said he also wanted Democratic senators to reach agreement —among themselves by then on specific details of a separate 10-year budget blueprint that envisions $3.5 trillion in spending for climate change, education, an expansion of Medicare and more.

The majority leader’s plans were an attempt to push lawmakers to work out differences so Democrats can advance their plans to fortify the economy and help lower-earning and middle-class families while imposing higher taxes on wealthy people and large corporations.

Lawmakers working on the smaller infrastructure package met on Thursday to discuss the details, but chafed at Mr. Schumer’s deadline. They indicated that substantial hurdles remain, including how to pay for the nearly $579 billion in new spending over five years that they agreed to with the White House.

Meanwhile, Mr. Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., want Congress to approve a $3.5 trillion budget resolution before a summer recess next month. Approval of that measure is crucial for Democrats because it would protect a subsequent bill actually providing that money from GOP filibusters, meaning Democrats could pass it on their own.

It will take 60 votes to start debating the infrastructure measure because Republicans are expected to filibuster, trying to kill it.