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BY LILY SENDROFF | After months of negotiations. the Senate passed on Tuesday a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, including $550 billion in new spending—an effort to reinvest in ‘hard’ infrastructure like bridges, roads and public transit; modernize the nation’s power grid; expand access to broadband internet; reconnect communities of color divided by large highways; upgrade the U.S. drinking water infrastructure, notably eliminating lead pipes; and fight climate change. The bipartisan bill passed by a vote of 69–30, with 19 Republicans joining 50 Democrats.

But for Democrats in both the Senate and House, the bipartisan bill—focused on so-called “traditional” infrastructure—is just the first step in their and Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better for Working Families Plan.

In an overnight vote early Wednesday morning, all 50 Senate Democrats overcame 49 Republican votes to move the budget resolution forward, a crucial first step. Leaders in the House say the body will cut its summer recess short, returning the week of Aug. 23, to start work on the budget measure.

BY MARILYN S. GREENWALD and YUN LI | Eunice Hunton Carter was catapulted into national prominence 85 years ago as one of the brightest attorneys in New York City. Hard-working and modest, Carter had been used to being the “first” in several aspects of her life: first Black woman prosecutor in New York County; first Black woman to receive two degrees from her alma mater, Smith College; and one of the first Black women to graduate from Fordham Law School.

Eight decades later, Kamala Harris, another Black woman attorney, is making history.

BY KARLA STRAND | With all the uncertainty and injustice in our daily lives, we each need to find ways to unplug and recharge. Of course, one way to do this is unwind with a great book. This list gives you 37 to choose from this month, from dark mysteries to feminist fantasies to gripping historical fiction.