Legislative standoffs are nothing new at the Capitol. But the scope and scale of the current stalemate among Democrats is as dramatic as it is head-scratching.

The House is coming back to Washington this week, cutting short its typical August recess, to start its work on twin proposals that would spend more than $4 trillion on measures including upgrading roads, funding new programs for childhood education, and providing a pathway to citizenship for as many as 8 million new Americans.

It’s a massive lift, and it is moving on a two-track path: there is broad bipartisan support for about $550 billion in new spending on things like roads, bridges, and Internet connectivity, and fragile backing among only Democrats for about another $3.5 trillion in so-called “soft infrastructure.” But the way the one-two punch has been structured leaves each jab at the risk of missing its mark.

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