Dhe US Senate passed a bill for massive investments in the social sector and climate protection, among other things, with a narrow majority of Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris – who also chairs the Senate by office – cast the deciding vote by a simple majority on Sunday. Republicans voted unanimously against the so-called Anti-Inflation Act, which provides around $370 billion (around €363 billion) for energy security and climate protection and $64 billion for health care. With amendments, they had delayed adoption for almost 16 hours. In the end, all of the Democratic senators plus Harris voted in favor of the bill, providing the necessary majority of 51 votes.
The approval of the House of Representatives, which has scheduled a vote for Friday, is still necessary – in this chamber of Congress, the majority is considered secure. The government of US President Joe Biden, who is also a Democrat, has previously described the law as “historic”. It will help address today’s most pressing economic challenges, strengthen our economy for decades to come, and position the United States to be a world leader in clean energy White House.
After tough negotiations, the package is only a fraction of what US President Biden wanted to achieve for climate and social affairs. In particular, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin repeatedly torpedoed Biden’s plans. The Democratic Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, had negotiated changes with Manchin a few days ago and surprisingly presented an agreement. Schumer repeatedly emphasized that the most important parts of the law remained intact – such as reducing the cost of prescription drugs, combating climate change, closing tax loopholes and $300 billion for debt reduction.
Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who blocked the package with Manchin last year, announced her support for the new law a few days ago. This was extremely important, since the Democrats could not afford a single dissenter given the wafer-thin majority in the Senate. “The road has been long, difficult, and winding,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said shortly before the vote.
