Slight majority
US Senate adopts social and climate bill
US Vice President Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote by simple majority. photo
© John Raoux/AP/dpa
After lengthy negotiations, the Senate passed a bill for massive environmental and social investments. But there is not much left of Biden’s originally planned package.
With a narrow majority of Democrats, the US Senate has passed a draft law for massive investments in the social sector and climate protection, among other things.
Vice President Kamala Harris – who also presides over the Senate by office – cast the deciding vote for a simple majority on Sunday. Republicans voted unanimously against the so-called Anti-Inflation Act. 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 also belongs to the Democrats, 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 elements 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.