The bill, titled the Inflation Reduction Act, passed the House on a party-line vote of 220-207. Four Republicans abstained, while every Democrat voted in favor. House Democrats erupted in cheers and applause when the bill was officially passed The House vote came four days after the Senate approved the bill on a party-line vote, with Vice Speaker Harris casting the tiebreaker. President Biden tweeted Friday afternoon that he would sign the bill into law next week. Details from The Hill: See what’s in the deflationary bill, from climate to health care to tax changes Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) protested the bill in the House during debate Friday, arguing that it “saves the planet while keeping more money in your pockets.” “This bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, a package for citizens, increases the leverage of the public interest over special interests and expands health and financial security now and for generations to come,” he added. The passage in Congress marks the culmination of more than a year of negotiations among Senate Democrats over a spending package. The legislation would raise corporate taxes, address climate change and lower prescription drug prices while reducing the deficit. The package specifically includes $369 billion in energy security and climate investments and $64 billion to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies over two years. The bill offers incentives for businesses and consumers to make cleaner energy choices, including using lower-carbon and carbon-free energy, and creates new programs to boost climate investments. On the health care side, the measure would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for 10 high-cost drugs starting in 2026. By 2029, that number is expected to increase to 20 drugs. In addition, the measure allows caps to be placed on certain drug costs, but mostly for Medicare. To pay for the legislation, Democrats have written a 15 percent minimum tax on the income that big companies report to their shareholders. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, only about 150 businesses will be affected. The bill also provides $80 billion to increase enforcement at the Internal Revenue Service and ensure that wealthy individuals and corporations do not evade taxes. Additionally, the bill includes a 1 percent excise tax on stock buybacks. The bill’s passage caps more than a year of negotiations among Senate Democrats, who have been working to reach consensus on a spending package but have failed in several instances due to intra-party disagreements. The Senate, however, finally made significant progress late last month when Majority Leader Charles Schumer (DN.Y.) and centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) announced a deal on the tax-and-spending package. The Senate finally passed that bill Sunday through budget reconciliation, a process that allowed Democrats to pass the measure with a simple majority, bypassing what likely would have been a Republican filibuster. All House Democrats supported the bill, including Rep. Jared Golden (Maine), the only member of his party to oppose an older, larger House-passed measure that Manchin blocked in the Senate. Golden called the final inflation-reduction law “common sense legislation” and “fiscally responsible” in a statement before the vote. Some progressive lawmakers had grumbled that the bill was not as expansive as they had hoped, but the entire caucus eventually came together to support the measure. House lawmakers took a summer break to return to Washington to finish work on the bill and send it to Biden. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) began criticizing the bill on Tuesday, blasting the bill — which his office described as “the Inflation, Recession and IRS Army Act — in a memo to the House GOP offices. In a roughly 50-minute speech on the House floor Friday, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) called the legislation a “flawed, dead bill,” criticizing it for inflationary concerns and drawing attention to rising U.S. prices. Republicans during the debate also took issue with the provision giving $80 billion to the IRS to boost enforcement. “Democrats more than any majority in history are addicted to spending other people’s money, regardless of what we can afford as a country,” McCarthy said on the floor of the House. “Today, they are now choosing to end the session by spending half a trillion dollars more of your money, raising taxes on the middle class and handing out handouts to their liberal allies,” he added. Updated at 6:51 p.m
