House Passes Biden's $1.7 Trillion Social Safety Net and Climate Package

By Sahil Kapur
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled House passed sweeping legislation Friday aimed at expanding the social safety net and tackling climate change, a major step that moves a top legislative priority of President Joe Biden closer to his desk.

The House voted 220 to 213 to pass Biden's Build Back Better bill, with one Democrat joining all Republicans in opposing the measure.

Cheers erupted on the House floor after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared the bill passed, followed by chants of "Nancy" by Democrats.

The bill now heads to the Senate, which is hoping for a vote before Christmas. The Senate is expected to make some changes in order to win the support of all 50 Democratic-voting members and comply with arcane budget rules. That will mean another vote in the House will be likely before the bill can become law.

The legislation includes a monthly per-child cash payment of up to $300 for most parents, child care funding, universal pre-K, an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies and Medicare hearing benefits. It also commits $555 billion toward combating climate change, the largest such effort in U.S. history.

The bill would be financed by tax increases on upper earners and corporations, more IRS enforcement and prescription drug savings by empowering Medicare to negotiate prices for certain medications.

Pelosi took a victory lap at a press conference after the vote, flanked by other House Democratic leaders. She expressed confidence that the legislation will ultimately go to Biden’s desk after the House and Senate reconcile their differences.

"We'll be telling our children and grandchildren that we were here this day,” she said.

“This is legislation that create millions of good paying jobs, gives tax cuts to the middle class, lowers costs, especially health care costs and childcare costs for the middle class, and is paid for 100 percent," she continued.

House Democrats had hoped to vote on the bill two weeks ago but a group of five centrist Democrats held it up over demands for a full cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, which released its analysis on Thursday and unlocked the votes from the holdouts.

The CBO estimated that the bill would cost $1.68 trillion over a decade while raising $1.27 trillion in revenue, with an extra $207 billion boost through tougher IRS enforcement.

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