The House narrowly passed on Friday, United States President Joe Biden's domestic agenda, a massive $2.2 trillion bill known as the Build Back Better Bill, despite a lengthy delay of roughly eight hours made by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
The bill's spending will be spread over the next decade and includes money to fight against climate change, expand health care, and adjust the country's social safety net. Despite widespread criticism and opposition from Republicans, the bill passed 220 to 213 after weeks of back-and-forth negotiations among lawmakers.
Build Back Better Bill
McCarthy's speech pushed a planned Thursday vote past midnight and was able to delay it until Friday morning. However, the minority leader's attempts to slow down Democrats did not succeed, as lawmakers reassembled at 8:00 a.m., three hours after McCarthy finally stepped off the floor. It marked the beginning of the final series of votes to pass one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in half a century to the Senate, the New York Times reported.
In a statement, White House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that members of Congress have, for centuries, under where they will now pass legislation of "extraordinary consequence" in the history of the United States. The official added that the bill will become a pillar of health and financial security for all citizens in the nation.
However, even if Democrats were successful in passing the Build Back Better bill in the House, the legislation would still have to go through the 50-50 Senate. Supporters of the bill must ensure that every member of the caucus files their vote in support of the bill or it will most likely fail to pass.
Challenge in the Senate
The issue is further exacerbated by two key opposition from the Democratic party, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. The two officials have publicly voiced their opposition to the bill and its price tag, Fox Business reported. But Speaker Pelosi downplayed the concerns of the bill's passage in the Senate and said that the biggest challenge was to "meet the vision" of U.S. President Biden.
Prior to the voting, McCarthy's lengthy speech was somewhat of a talk about unrelated topics, such as his friendship with Tesla owner Elon Musk and one related to a former president. In his speech, the minority leader acknowledged the inevitable outcome, going so far as to say that he was unsure of how much difference his delay tactics were going to make.
Additionally, the official's House-style filibuster, which is known for breaking a record that Pelosi previously held, punctuated another week of partisan insults. One such incident was when the Democratic-led House censured Rep. Paul A. Gosar on Wednesday after he posted a violent video that showed depictions of one lawmaker being killed and Biden being attacked.
On Thursday, authorities who were supposed to debate on legislation aimed at reshaping programs such as child care to vision benefits devolved in back-and-forth criticism. The situation comes as McCarthy was, just a few years ago, a lieutenant in GOP leadership circles under former U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, the Washington Post reported.
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