House Democrats on Friday passed a $739 billion climate change, tax hike and health care bill, boosting President Biden’s domestic agenda at a time of high inflation and low presidential job approval numbers. In a vote of 220 to 207, the House voted along party lines to pass the legislation. All Democrats supported the bill in the face of opposition from all but three Republicans who did not vote. “Today is truly a glorious day for us,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “We are sending to the president’s office a monumental bill that will truly be for the people.” Republicans strongly opposed the bill, arguing that its provisions would worsen the US economy and impose new burdens on American workers. “Remember this day,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “When Democrats Blocked a 700-Page Bill That Raises Your Taxes and Doubles the Size of the IRS.” DEMOCRATS DEFEND IRS FUNDING INCLUDED IN DEFLATION ACT, REBELL CLAIM OF GOP ‘ARMY’ OF AGENTS President Biden smiles during remarks before signing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, November 15, 2021. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst) The bill, which has already passed the Senate, now heads to the president, who is expected to sign it into law soon. His passage represents a victory for Biden, whose young tenure in the White House has been rocked by 40-year high inflation, a recession and falling polls. “This bill reflects a lot of what we wanted to see — not everything we wanted to see — let me be clear about that, but it’s a very important step forward,” said House Majority Leader, Steny Hoyer, D-Md. “It will reduce the deficit, lower costs and expand access to affordable health care, while making the largest investment in history to address the global climate crisis.” Democrats began working on the bill shortly after Biden took office. Originally called Build Back Better, the legislation was proposed as an ambitious overhaul of the nation’s economy and climate infrastructure. TRUMP PLEDGES TO CAMPAIGN AGAINST MANCHIN IN WEST VIRGINIA ON SPENDING BILL DEAL With a price tag of more than $3.5 trillion, this iteration of the legislation fell apart in the face of a 50-50 Senate Democratic split. Senator Joe Manchin, in particular, refused to support the bill last year over concerns that it would worsen inflation. Opposition from the West Virginia GOP was enough to derail the bill, as widespread GOP opposition meant the only way the bill could pass the Senate was through a party-line process known as budget reconciliation. Despite Manchin’s opposition, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., worked to revive the package. Out of these private negotiations between Schumer and Manchin came the Lower Inflation Act. Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, left (F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images). Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) ( ) The bill allows Medicare to negotiate the price of certain life-saving prescription drugs starting in 2023. Democrats say the move will save the government $288 billion over the next decade. “Democrats have been fighting for years to lower drug prices, and this bill allows Medicare to negotiate with drug companies,” said Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass. Medicare… if you get Medicare, you won’t have to pay more than $2,000 a year for your prescriptions.”
The Manchin-Schumer bill also imposes a 15% minimum tax on corporations, a move expected to raise $313 billion. Democrats also say that by investing in the Internal Revenue Service they can save an additional $124 billion. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In total, the bill proposes to raise $739 billion. Of that amount, $369 billion is planned to go toward climate change subsidies to try to help meet Biden’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030. Another $64 billion will go toward expansion of ObamaCare subsidies. The rest of the new revenue, more than $300 billion, will go toward paying down the deficit. Haris Alic covers Congress and politics for Fox News Digital. He can be reached at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @realharisalic.