Democrats plan for the Senate to begin considering the bill Saturday, and the House will return next Friday for votes.
WASHINGTON — Democrats pushed their election-year economic bill toward Senate approval early Sunday, starting the sprawling collection of President Joe Biden’s priorities on climate, energy, health and taxes on a pathway that the party hopes will end in final congressional passage by the end of this week.
“The time is now to move forward with a big, bold package for the American people,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “This historic bill will reduce inflation, lower costs, fight climate change. It’s time to move this nation forward.” Nonpartisan analysts have said the legislation, which Democrats have named the Inflation Reduction Act, would have a minor impact on the nation’s worst inflation bout in four decades. Even so, it would take aim at issues the party has longed to address for years including global warming, pharmaceutical costs and taxing immense corporations.
Another, by Graham, was defeated; it would have erased a fee Democrats want to renew on barrels of oil that raises money for hazardous waste cleanups. Republicans said Democrats’ proposal would boost gasoline prices, a sore point for voters after this summer’s record pump prices. Other pharmaceutical provisions were left intact, including giving Medicare the power to negotiate what it pays for drugs for its 64 million elderly recipients, a longtime Democratic aspiration. Penalties on manufacturers for exceeding inflation would apply to drugs sold to Medicare, and there is a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap on drug costs and free vaccines for Medicare beneficiaries.
The measure is a shadow of Biden’s initial 10-year, $3.5 trillion proposal, which funded a rainbow of progressive dreams including paid family leave, universal preschool, child care and bigger tax breaks for families with children. The current bill, barely over one-tenth that size, became much narrower as Democratic leaders sought to win the votes of the centrists Manchin and Sinema, yet it has unified a party eager to declare victory and show voters they are addressing their problems.
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