Joe Biden’s ambitious $5 trillion to change the world’s largest economy.
Washington, United States:
US President Joe Biden’s plans to spend nearly $5 trillion to change the world’s largest economy came through in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, after Democratic leaders reached an agreement with centrist lawmakers to end to a dispute that threatened the accounts.
Biden and his Democratic allies who control the chamber are pushing for both a $1.2 trillion overhaul of the country’s infrastructure and a $3.5 trillion bill over 10 years that would pay for improvements in education, health care and resilience to climate change.
While the infrastructure bill has already been passed by the Senate with a few votes from Republicans, Democrats found no opposition support for the second, larger bill and planned to pass it with their votes alone — an arduous task. their slim majority in both houses of Congress.
The dispute erupted when centrist Democrats in the House said the infrastructure bill should be voted on first, but on Tuesday those lawmakers backed a compromise resolution that would put the infrastructure measure to a vote in about a month.
“I commit to pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill by Sept. 27. I do this with a commitment to rally House Democratic support for its approval,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
The resolution paves the way for further negotiations on the $3.5 trillion measure, with a view to adopting it by September 15.
Democrats can afford not to lose votes in the Senate, where two of their lawmakers have already said they won’t vote for the bill unless its price is lowered.
Final votes on the bills are not expected until next month or later in the fall.
The infrastructure measure includes $550 billion in new spending and aims to revitalize and expand the country’s roads, railways, bridges and broadband access.
The $3.5 trillion measure is supported by Democratic leaders and the progressive faction, and includes funding for climate action, infrastructure investments left out of the other bill, residency status for millions of migrant workers and two years of paid tuition at public universities.
