After a marathon, 27-hour session over the weekend and efforts by Republicans to derail the package, the Senate approved the legislation known as the Inflation Relief Act by a 51-50 party-line vote, with Vice President Kamala Harris providing the tiebreaker. . The action sends the measure to the House of Representatives for a vote expected on Friday that could advance it, in turn, to the White House for Biden’s signature. In a statement, Biden urged the House to act as soon as possible and said he looked forward to signing the bill into law. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “The Senate is making history,” said an excited Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after pumping his fists in the air as Democrats cheered and their staff responded to the vote with applause. “To Americans who have lost faith that Congress can do great things, this bill is for you,” he said. “This bill is going to change America for decades.” Schumer said the legislation contains “the boldest clean energy package in American history” to fight climate change while lowering consumer costs for energy and some drugs. Democrats have come under fire from Republicans for the $430 billion in new spending and about $740 billion in new revenue. read more But Democrats hope his vote, ahead of the August recess, will help the party’s House and Senate candidates in the Nov. 8 midterm elections, at a time when Biden is suffering from anemic approval ratings amid high inflation. The legislation aims to reduce carbon emissions and shift consumers to green energy, while lowering prescription drug costs for seniors and toughening taxes on corporations and the wealthy. Because the measure pays off and reduces the federal deficit over time, Democrats argue it will help reduce inflation, an economic liability that has also weighed on their hopes of retaining legislative control ahead of the 2024 presidential election. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris reacts as she speaks to the media regarding the passage of the ‘Inflation Reduction Act of 2022’ on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, U.S., August 7, 2022. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno read more Republicans, arguing that the bill would not address inflation, denounced the measure as a job-killing, left-wing spending wish list that could undermine growth when the economy risks slipping into recession. Democrats passed the bill using a parliamentary maneuver called reconciliation, which allows budget-related legislation to avoid the 100-seat chamber’s 60-vote threshold for most bills and pass with a simple majority. After several hours of debate, the Senate began a rapid “vote-a-rama” on the Democratic and Republican amendments Saturday night that stretched into Sunday afternoon. Democrats rejected more than 30 Republican amendments, points of order and motions, all intended to repeal the legislation. Any change in the bill’s content caused by an amendment could have broken up the coalition of 50 Democratic senators needed to keep the legislation on track.

NO CAP ON THE COST OF INSULIN

But they couldn’t muster the votes needed to keep a provision that would cap rising insulin costs at $35 a month in the private health insurance market, which was outside the reconciliation rules. Democrats said the legislation would still limit insulin costs for those on Medicare. In a foreshadowing of the upcoming fall election campaign, Republicans used their defeats on the amendments to attack vulnerable Democrats seeking re-election in November. “Democrats are voting again to allow chaos at the southern border to continue,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement naming Democratic Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire and Raphael Warnock of Georgia. All four face close contests for re-election. The bill has been in the works for more than 18 months since Biden’s original sweeping Build Back Better plan was scrapped in the face of opposition from Republicans and key lawmakers from his own party. “It required a lot of compromises. Doing important things almost always does,” Biden said in a statement. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Richard Cowan, Rose Horowitch, David Morgan and Makini Brice. Editing by Scott Malone, Mary Milliken, Lisa Shumaker and Cynthia Osterman Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.