This is Brian Lair's Daily Politics podcast from WNYC Studios. It's Wednesday, August 25th.

I'm Bridget Bergen from the WNYC and Gothamist Newsroom, filling in for Brian.

House Democrats approved the $3.5 trillionroom filling in for Brian. House Democrats approved the three and a half

trillion dollar budget resolution in a procedural vote paving the way for a major expansion

of social safety net programs. The vote also clears the path for Democrats to advance the bipartisan

infrastructure bill by September 27th and the voting rights bill named for the late

Congressman John Lewis. But the road ahead is far from certain. With me now to talk about the

latest House news is Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, Democrat from New Jersey's 12th District,

and vice chair at large for the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

That district extends roughly from Plainfield down to Trenton, and it covers parts of Union,

Mercer, Somerset, and Middlesex counties.

Congresswoman, it's great to have you on the show again. Welcome back to WNYC.

Well, thank you for having me.

Of the Democrats' leading opposition to the $3.5 trillion reconciliation deal,

one was your fellow New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer.

On this show a couple weeks ago, here's what he had to say about why.

I'm not somebody who thinks we shouldn't pay any attention to the

debt. If interest rates go up and the Fed has to actually counter inflation with increasing

interest rates, that'll have a huge impact on families, both on out-of-pocket and their day-to-day

expenditures. So, you know, to not understand the importance of how those pieces are all connected, I think,

leaves out a really critical aspect of how this could affect hardworking families and

lower-income families in my district and across the country.

...