The House of Representatives passed President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill late Friday night in a crucial victory for his administration, ending stalled negotiations between moderates and progressives that threatened to obstruct the legislation.
The House voted to pass the bill with a 228-206 vote, with 13 Republican lawmakers joining Democrats in approving the legislation. Reps. Ilhan Omar (MN), Cori Bush (MO), Jamaal Bowman (N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Ayanna Pressley (MA) were the only Democrats to vote against it.
The bill, which will fund physical infrastructure projects including roads, bridges, water pipes and broadband internet, will be sent to Biden’s desk for final approval. In August, the Senate voted 69-30 to approve the legislation.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initially planned to hold votes on the infrastructure and social spending bills Friday but, after some moderates demanded the Congressional Budget Office "score" the spending bill so they could better assess its total cost, Pelosi had to abandon her schedule, Fox Business reported.
The scoring process, which can take several weeks, effectively delays a vote on the social spending bill.
The infrastructure legislation passed on a long day of negotiations, marathon meetings and other drawbacks that ended only after progressives and moderates had a late-night meeting to come to a written agreement that broke progressive's opposition to a vote on the infrastructure bill.
Progressives agreed to vote in favor of the infrastructure bill after a group of House moderates agreed to vote for Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, as it is currently written, by the week of Nov. 15. This, despite progressives previously insisting that the two bills be voted on together as part of a broader package.
The passage of the infrastructure legislation comes after months of tense negotiations, with Democratic leaders working to reach a consensus among the party's progressive and moderate holdouts. Talks nearly ended altogether multiple times, including just minutes before Friday's vote.
Biden, Pelosi and other Democratic leaders scrambled to secure enough votes from progressives to pass the infrastructure bill. The president canceled a trip to Delaware and met with lawmakers about the legislation.
Biden indicated he was confident the social spending bill would pass the House by Thanksgiving. But moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.V.) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), both of whom have repeatedly expressed concerns about the legislation, would need to vote in favor of it for it to pass in a 50-50 Senate.
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