Senate Democrats passed a massive $739 billion economic package on Sunday despite several last-minute concerns, including “to hell with a frame vote” and concerns that an amendment sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Sinema could derail the bill.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was passed with the intention of reducing the national deficit and therefore reducing the inflation that millions of Americans have been struggling with in recent months, while investing in health care measures and efforts to combat the change in the climate. This will be done in part by raising corporate taxes.
It passed along party lines, with every Democrat voting for it and every Republican voting against it. Vice President Kamala Harris, who also serves as Senate president, cast the deciding vote, handing a major victory to President Joe Biden, who last year failed to let his landmark Building Better bill pass the evenly divided chamber.
The Senate passed a sweeping economic package known as the Inflation Relief Act of 2022 on Sunday despite last-minute hiccups. Above, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer celebrates the passage of the bill in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The victory for the Democrats followed some uncertainty about whether or not the bill would pass.
Months of negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and moderate Democratic senators Joe Manchin and Sinema, who represent West Virginia and Arizona, respectively, preceded the vote. Both senators were seen as obstacles to passage of key elements of Biden’s agenda.
Manchin and Schumer announced their spending package deal in July, while Sinema announced a deal with Schumer last week.
Key provisions cut from the bill
Although the bill’s passage was seen as a huge victory for the Biden administration, two provisions pushed by Democratic leadership were left out of the final bill.
First, Democrats planned to pay for the spending as well as reduce the deficit, in part by closing the carryforward loophole that allows hedge fund managers and private equity firm executives to be taxed at a 15 percent capital gains tax rate instead of -high income tax rates paid by many Americans. However, in order to strike a deal with Sinema, Schumer agreed to leave the loophole open and replace it with an excise tax on share buybacks.
A proposal that would have capped monthly insulin payments at $35 a month for those with private insurance was also removed from the bill after a Senate lawmaker ruled it violated reconciliation rules and failed to muster enough Republican support to pass the filibuster, which requires 60 votes.
Vote-a-Rama ‘Hell’
The final vote followed hours of “framework” as senators introduced amendments to the bill, most of which did not receive enough support to pass. Notably, Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, introduced several amendments that he called the “‘so-called’ Deflation Act,” but ultimately voted for it.
One of those amendments would have included extending the $300-a-month child tax credit. However, his amendment failed 97-1 as many Democrats vowed to reject all amendments in an attempt to preserve the fragile deal.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, told reporters Friday that the vote would be “like hell,” ABC News reported.
Sinema-backed SALT deduction cap extension bill
An amendment by Senate Minority Representative John Thune, R-South Dakota, backed by Sinema, also could have sunk the bill if met with stronger opposition from other Democrats. The amendment would expand the cap on SALT deductions that were originally passed in former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cut bill.
Six other Democrats joined Sinema in supporting the amendment. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Mark Kelly of Arizona, Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Jackie Rosen of Nevada and Raphael Warnock of Georgia — all of whom represent seats that only narrowly supported Biden in 2020. – voted for an amendment.
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