The $740 billion climate, healthcare, and tax package was passed by the Senate on Sunday afternoon.
The vice president cast the tie-breaking vote. Two long-time holdouts on the economic and social agenda threw their support behind the bill.
Schumer said before the final vote that it had been a long road. This historic bill needs to be passed.
"Here's what's on offer: reducing health care costs, reducing climate emissions, reducing energy costs and reducing the number of wealthy tax cheat," Sen. Ron Wyden said. We set out to do that.
Republicans tried to change the bill in a 14 hour marathon voting session. The package was protected from any provisions that would endanger its support. Amendments on prescription drug negotiations and the enhanced child tax credit were introduced by the senator.
Senate Republicans were able to remove a federal limit on the cost of diabetes care for people with private insurance. There is a provision for Medicare beneficiaries to have a cap on the cost of diabetes care.
There was a hold up when Sinema was considering backing a GOP amendment. A person briefed on the negotiations said that Manchin was against it. The deal included it.
The package was drafted between Schumer and Manchin over the course of two months and it almost sounded the death knell for the Democrats. In late July, Manchin struck a deal that was much larger than the Democrats thought possible.
The 755-page bill would empower Medicare to negotiate the price of some prescription drugs, establish $370 billion in clean energy tax credits, and extend financial assistance so a larger group of Americans can purchase health coverage under theAffordable Care Act for three more years.
It's paid for with a 15% domestic minimum tax on profitable corporations and a 1% excise tax on stock purchases. The federal deficit is projected to be reduced by $300 billion thanks to the set aside of $80 billion.
Democrats labored and often struggled to get pieces of Biden's domestic agenda that were unveiled in spring 2021. The first part of Biden's plan was to strengthen the nation's physical infrastructure.
Senate Democrats tried to push a $3.5 trillion spending plan, but it was resisted by the moderate wing of the party. Budget reconciliation allowed the party to sidestep GOP resistance with only a simple majority, plus Harris's tie-breaking vote. Democrats didn't have many votes to spare in the House and Senate.
The back-and-forth that took place between Manchin and Sinema through the fall was caused by their rejection of that amount. Democrats were confused by the demands of the pair.
The Build Back Better Act was killed by Manchin because he didn't want to make inflation worse. Schumer began meeting with Manchin to scale back the bill.
It was necessary for Democrats to make concessions on their social priorities. The Biden child tax credit will not be extended. A national paid and medical leave program is one of the initiatives that was ejected.
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