House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other top Democrats say the vote on the multimillion-dollar spending package is a step forward on President Biden’s agenda.
Jose Luis Magana / AP
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Jose Luis Magana / AP
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other top Democrats say the vote on the multimillion-dollar spending package is a step forward on President Biden’s agenda.
Jose Luis Magana / AP
House of Representatives voted on pro-party lines Friday morning to pass a roughly $2 trillion climate and social spending package, ending months of wrangling among Democrats over the details of the sweeping measure.
The number of votes is 220-213, with a Democrat, Representative Jared Golden of Maine, joining all the opposing Republicans.
The bill is intended to fulfill many of President Biden’s 2020 campaign promises, including plans to tackle climate change and provide a stronger federal safety net for families. and low-income workers.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said: “We have a Rebuild Better bill that’s historic, transformative, and bigger than anything we’ve ever done before.” “If you’re a parent, senior, child, worker, if you’re an American… then this bill is for you and it’s better.”
House Democrats have weathered internal divisions over the cost and scope of the spending package, but the battle will continue as the bill heads to the Senate for amendments.
The vote was delayed after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., spoke all night – for more than eight hours. His speech railed against Democratic spending plans, but also revolved around subjects including China and border security.
“Never in American history have people spent so much money at once,” he said. “Never in American history has America raised so many taxes and had to borrow so much to pay for all this reckless spending.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks during his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images
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Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks during his weekly press conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images
What’s in the measure
The law includes:
- $550 billion to tackle climate change through incentives and tax breaks;
- funding to extend the monthly child tax credit for one year;
- housing assistance, including $150 billion in affordable housing spending;
- Medicaid expansion and additional assistance to reduce health care insurance costs for plans purchased under the Affordable Care Act;
- four weeks of paid family and medical leave;
- finance universal preschool for about 6 million children 3 and 4 years old;
- provision that allows Medicare Parts B and D to negotiate prices directly with drug manufacturers for certain drugs and limits seniors’ out-of-pocket spending to $2,000 per year;
- $35 limit for monthly insulin costs.
Spending is largely offset by taxes levied on the wealthy and corporations, including:
- surcharge tax of 5% for taxpayers with personal income over $10 million, and an additional 3% for income over $25 million;
- a minimum tax of 15% on corporate profits of large corporations reporting profits of more than 1 billion US dollars;
- 1% tax on share buybacks;
- minimum tax rate of 50% on foreign profits of US corporations.
House Democrats unite after months of fighting
Moderate Democrats ultimately voted for the legislation after fearing that estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office would show the measure would be more costly than leaders had anticipated.
Finally, CBO find The bill would cost the federal government $367 billion over the next decade, “not counting any additional revenue that could be generated with additional funding for tax enforcement.” Many Democrats, including the White House, argues that when that is taken into account, the measure pays for itself.
Financially moderated New Democratic Alliance members endorsed the law before estimating the final cost. Representative Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said the official estimates do not take into account the additional revenue from increased tax enforcement — or the broader economic benefits of the legislation.
“In discussing the importance of the bill, we also had to talk about the costs that would be incurred if we didn’t pass this bill,” Schneider said on a call with reporters. “The cost of inaction is simply too high, and it can only be cured if we act now.”
For progressive Democrats, the vote met promises from leaders Biden and the House of Representatives not to ignore policies that have empowered the left in their party. Members of Congress’ radical caucus set out major demands throughout the negotiations, including more spending and plans for positive changes to the nation’s healthcare system. , in order to reach an agreement that satisfied the entire caucus.
Senate hurdles could last for weeks
The vote in the House of Commons is just the latest step in a lengthy process that will almost certainly involve further changes to the bill.
Centrist Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Joe Manchin, DW.Va., each expressed concern about the House version of the law. Manchin was particularly opposed to the provision providing four weeks of paid family and medical leave for most workers. Sinema’s objections are less obvious but Democrats need both lawmakers on board for the legislation to pass.
It is unclear how long it will take for the senators to resolve their disagreements and finalize the legislation. Once that work is done, the Senate will have to begin a lengthy process to vote on the bill using the budget adjustment process that will allow the bill to pass in the Senate by 50 votes, instead of the 60 votes required for most bills.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Thursday that Senate staff had completed a necessary step to ensure the legislation meets the basic requirements to avoid a Republican attack. However, the process still has several steps, including an unlimited series of amendments called votes.
