In the 2021 and 2022 Congress, Democrats had a narrow Senate majority but nonetheless achieved major accomplishments through a combination of bipartisan legislation and the use of the budget reconciliation process. As chief counsel for the Senate Environment Committee, I was personally involved in some of these efforts and had a front row seat for others.

The approach brought major successes: the biggest investment in America’s infrastructure ever, the most meaningful climate change bill ever passed by Congress and new policies that reinvigorated U.S. manufacturing. However, there were also some notable failures.

For example, Democrats sought to increase the federal minimum wage in the budget reconciliation process. The budget implications of raising the minimum wage were estimated to be $54 billion.

Despite that huge effect, whether the provision could be included in the budget package hinged on the application of the “Byrd Rule,” which provides that budget bills cannot include provisions that have merely incidental budget effects compared to the provision’s nonbudgetary effects.

Democrats were crestfallen when the nonpartisan

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