Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told the American public it was possible to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour with only a simple majority in the Senate .

In Washington, Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, wasnt banking on political insiders taking his word for it. He wanted them to take Bill Dausters word.

Dauster is Democrats top lawyer on the Senate Budget Committee, which Sanders chairs. For the past two months, Dauster constructed Democrats legal argument in defense of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour without a single Republican vote.

As Democrats try to navigate a 50-50 majority in the Senate, their only hope of passing some of their biggest policies short of blowing up the Senates 60-vote threshold needed to move legislation past a filibuster is through a process called budget reconciliation. Its a limited legislative maneuver that allows bills to pass with a simple majority, as long as they have a direct impact on the federal budget and dont raise the deficit outside a certain time period.

Its Dausters job to argue that Democrats proposals fit that framework.

His first test was a big one: including a $15 minimum wage in the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill President Joe Biden signed into law this month.

It didnt happen.

But Dauster still believes it should have, and he believes it could work next time. He demonstrated out-of-the-box thinking that opened a new path for Democrats as they strategize around their next big pieces of legislation.

In some ways, Dauster fits perfectly within Sanders world. Sanders, a progressive champion, has dedicated his political life to expanding peoples imaginations as to what is possible in America free college, universal health care, higher wages. Now, Dauster wants to push the Senate to reimagine the budget process in order to pass major policy.

But Dauster isnt a veteran Sanders aide or even a progressive activist. Hes a longtime Senate aide who came out of retirement for this job.

This year, the first year of the Biden administration, with a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House, is one of those one-in-12 type of years that you can get things done. Those are the types of years that make the other 11 years worth [getting] through, Dauster said.