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The House of Representatives on Friday night passed a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill after months of delay and negotiations, sending the long-waited legislation to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The bill was approved by a vote of 228-206, with 13 Republicans joining Democrats in support of the legislation. Six progressive Democrats voted against it to register their opposition to the party’s larger spending bill not being voted on at the same time.
Biden unveiled a 2-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan in March, and after months of negotiations, a bipartisan group of senators reached an agreement on a roughly 1-trillion-dollar infrastructure bill.
The bill includes 550 billion dollars in new spending on infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges, passenger rails, drinking water and waste water systems. The rest of the package involves previously approved spending.
The Senate approved the bill in August. Progressive House Democrats have held up the Senate-passed bill for months, demanding a vote on the larger social spending plan, the size and scope of which have been a source of contention within the Democratic Party.
Ahead of the vote, Biden tweeted he is confident that during the week of Nov. 15, the House will pass the Build Back Better Act, which focuses on childcare, education, health care, and climate policy.
Following weeks of intensive negotiations with congressional Democrats, Biden last week unveiled a framework for a 1.75-trillion-dollar social spending package, which includes 555 billion dollars in clean energy and climate investments, 400 billion dollars in funding for child care and free preschool, 200 billion dollars in child tax and earned income tax credits, and 150 billion dollars in investments for affordable housing.
“Tonight, we took a monumental step forward as a nation,” Biden said in statement after the bill was passed.
“The United States House of Representatives passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a once-in-generation bipartisan infrastructure bill that will create millions of jobs, turn the climate crisis into an opportunity, and put us on a path to win the economic competition for the 21st Century.”
