US House passes Joe Biden’s historic US$1.8 trillion social spending bill

The president’s Build Back Better plan now faces a bumpier ride in the Senate, where Democrats have the narrowest of majorities

Biden hailed the vote as a giant step in his bid to create jobs, make the US more competitive and ‘give working people and the middle class a fighting chance’

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A man dressed as the Build Back Better Bill wears a sash saying “on to the Senate” as members of the US House leave after the vote on Capitol Hill on Friday. Photo: AP

Published: 1:39am, 20 Nov 2021Updated: 3:38am, 20 Nov 2021

US lawmakers voted on Friday to elevate President Joe Biden’s giant social welfare bill to the Senate, in a major step forward for his vision to create a more equitable society – the centrepiece of his domestic agenda.

Build Back Better – Biden’s potentially legacy-defining package of education, health care, childcare and climate reforms – was greenlit by the House of Representatives four days after he signed into law the first part of his economic blueprint, a sweeping upgrade of the country’s crumbling infrastructure.

The US$1.8 trillion measure faces a bumpier ride in the upper chamber Senate, with the Democrats’ deficit hawks jittery over spiralling inflation, before it gets a final rubber stamp in the House, likely in January.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi had hoped for a vote late on Thursday but Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy scuppered that plan by breaking her record for the longest House floor speech, clocking in at more than 8½ hours.

House Democrats celebrate as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (right) holds up the vote tally following a vote at the US Capitol on Friday. Photo: Bloomberg

The breakthrough vote in the House came as Biden was set to transfer power to Vice-President Kamala Harris while he underwent a colonoscopy under anaesthesia as part of a regular health check.