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WASHINGTON — House on Friday endorsed the centerpiece of President Biden’s domestic agenda by unanimous opposition from Republicans by approving $2.2 trillion over the next decade to tackle climate change, expand healthcare and re-weave the nation’s social safety net.

The bill’s passage from 220 to 213 came after weeks of cajoling, arm-twisting, and legislative myth by Democrats. closed by more than eight hours of grueling, winding and record-breaking talk The House’s Republican leader, California Representative Kevin McCarthy, pushed the scheduled Thursday vote past midnight, then adjourned it until Friday morning – but did nothing to disrupt the Democratic unity.

Groggy MPs reconvened at 8 a.m. to begin the final round of votes to send one of the most important laws in half a century to the Senate, three hours after Mr McCarthy finally gave up the floor.

“Under this dome, for centuries, members of Congress have stood exactly where we stand to pass laws that have had extraordinary consequences for our nation’s history and our nation’s future,” spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi said. and financial security in America.”

The bill still has a long and difficult road ahead. Democratic leaders must convince this through the 50-50 Senate and go through a circuitous budget process that is almost certain to reshape the measure and force it back into the House – if it passes.

But even if it pulls back from the $3.5 trillion plan that Mr. Biden was initially seeking, the legislation could be as transformative as anything since Great Society and the Poverty War in the 1960s, especially for young families and older Americans. Congressional Budget Office on Thursday afternoon increase the federal budget deficit by $160 billion more than 10 years.

“By rebuilding America’s backbone, it’s putting our economy on track to build it better than before: the working people and the middle class,” Mr. Biden said in a statement. He urged the Senate to swiftly pass the measure.

The assessment showed that the overall package would cost slightly more than Mr. Biden’s last bid – $2.2 trillion instead of $1.85 trillion.

Republicans, who for months opposed the measure as a costly attempt to steer the country toward socialism, wasted little time promising to arm it against the Democrats in next year’s midterm elections.

“This bill will exacerbate inflation by pumping trillions of dollars in wasteful spending into the economy, tax cuts for the rich, raising taxes on middle-class families, and adding hundreds of billions of dollars to the national debt,” said Ronna McDaniel of the Republican National Committee. In a statement, the president said he called the bill “Building Broken,” which Mr. Biden called the Build Back Better Act.

“Americans will see the truth behind their lies, and the RNC will ensure that voters don’t forget the Democrats’ failures next November,” Ms McDaniel said.

The bill offers generous subsidies for universal pre-kindergarten, childcare up to middle class, expanded financial aid for college, hundreds of billions of dollars in housing support, home and community care for older Americans, a new hearing aid and price for Medicare. checks for prescription drugs.

More than half a trillion dollars will be spent shifting the US economy from fossil fuels to renewable energy and electric cars, the biggest investment to slow the planet’s warming. The package will largely be paid for by tax increases on high-income and corporations, which are estimated to bring in about $1.5 trillion over 10 years.

Savings in government spending on prescription drugs is estimated to add another $260 billion.

The fact that the bill could slightly increase the federal deficit did not deter the House of Democrats from voting, in part because the analysis narrowed it down to a dispute over a single line item: how much the IRS would collect by crashing people and companies that evaded huge tax bills.

The legislation forms an important part of Mr. Biden’s domestic policy agenda. $1 trillion infrastructure package NS the president signed the law This week. The road to Friday’s vote was rough from mid-summer to late fall, when negotiations pitted liberal lawmakers against centrists and House Democrats against senators.

And Republicans, who have made it clear from the start that they could never support the scope and ambition package Mr. Biden has proposed, have been excluded from the talks. While some Republicans voted for the infrastructure measure, they unanimously opposed the social safety net package, arguing that the federal government would pose a dangerous encroachment on every aspect of American life and increase rising costs across the country.

A spokesperson for the Republican House campaign arm said Democrats “seem intent on destroying our economy before we lose a majority.” And in the Senate, party leaders were openly pressing Democratic senators to repeal their party’s marquee law.

“Only a few Senate Democrats can protect American families from these radical and painful policies,” said minority leader Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. “It’s up to them to cut that bill.”

It was Mr McCarthy, the top Republican in the House, who took the last futile stance against the measure in that house, taking advantage of what’s known as the “magic minute”, a tradition that allows party leaders to speak without time constraints. when their minutes are given to them.

Well held ground until Friday morning, railing more than eight hours He broke the record for the longest continuous House speech in modern history against the bill and the Biden administration. Set in 2018 by Miss Pelosi Before he finished his speech at 5:10 a.m. Some Democrats meaningfully stepped out before he even started to speak, interrupting his speech against the bill with boos, boos, and taunts from time to time.

“Every page of all this new Washington spending shows how irresponsible and indifferent Democrats are in the face of the challenges America faces today,” McCarthy said. He aimed to rally his Republican base behind a message for the by-elections and polishing his own bid for the speaker in case his party wins.

But hours later, Democrats entered the room, joking about their lack of sleep and readiness to vote. And if Democrats feared the political consequences, it wasn’t clear from the final tally, which reflected support from the most competitive regions.

When the vote count passed 218, Democrats began hugging and dancing in the hallways of the Assembly hall, chanting “Build Better”. After Ms Pelosi struck the gavel to signal the end of the voting, lawmakers flocked to her floor of the house, shouting her name and cheering as Republicans sat expressionless across the room.

The only Democrat to oppose the bill is Maine Representative Jared Golden. he did so after that raises concerns this month About including a provision that would generously increase the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes paid from $10,000 to $80,000 per year. But he suggested in a set of expressions He said on Twitter that his vote could still be won with changes to the so-called SALT proposal and other possible tweaks once it reaches the Senate.

After months of maneuvering over the bill, the action was fueled in part by the enthusiasm of lawmakers to finish their work and leave Washington for the week-long Thanksgiving holiday. It came about eight months after Mr. Biden. announced the first part of its domestic policy agendaand after several near-death experiences for the package that exposed deep divisions within his party.

The vote showed remarkable Democratic unity given the struggle to reach it. Cautious about the size of the bill, a group of moderate and conservative dissidents made an official estimate before deciding to support it.

However, after the episode aired on Thursday, Evaluations by the Congressional Budget OfficeThe official financial scorer, most swayed. According to a person familiar with the debate, White House officials met privately with the group Thursday evening to review the administration’s analysis and budget statements.

For Democrats, the bill is perhaps the last significant opportunity to challenge domestic policy ambitions: a set of environmental provisions, federal support for education and childcare, and fulfillment of a long-standing campaign promise to deal with the rising cost of prescription drugs.

“Now, that’s just going to be telling our story—that’s the challenge,” said Representative Richard E. Neal of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, as the staff carried fresh cups of coffee to the ceremonial office.

The law is almost guaranteed to change in the Senate, which two Democratic centrists, West Virginia’s Senators Joe Manchin III and Arizona’s Kyrsten Cinema, have yet to openly approve. In an evenly divided Senate, a single defector could block its passage, and Democrats will have to maneuver the bill through their own internal divisions and a quick series of politically difficult changes that could overturn the bill.

At a celebratory press conference with senior Democratic leaders, Ms. Pelosi downplayed the extent of the possible changes and promised “we’ll have a great bill at the end of the day”.

Democrats must also ensure that the entire plan adheres to the strict rules governing the reconciliation process and mandate the repeal of any provision that does not have a direct financial impact. These rules forced the party to abandon its plan to provide a pathway to naturalization in the bill for undocumented immigrants.

The senate legislators, who are the arbiters of these rules, have yet to issue guidelines for their latest proposals to provide temporary protection from deportation to millions of long-term immigrants who reside in the United States.

Other elements of the plan may also change due to objections from individual senators. Manchin, specifically, four weeks of federal paid family and medical leave and including a charge for methane emissions, a strong pollutant.

And some liberals rejected the House clause to generously increase the federal tax. deduction for state and local taxes This will primarily benefit wealthy homeowners who detail their deductions. Instead, they and other senators are debating an income cap to reduce who can benefit from the increased cut.

While some Democrats publicly complained about its inclusion, some lawmakers from high-tax states like New York and New Jersey had identified it as a requirement for their votes.

Democratic leaders have recommended that the Senate take action to pass the law before the end of the year, despite a series of other urgent financial deadlines piling up in December.

“We will act as quickly as possible to bring this bill to President Biden’s table and provide assistance to middle-class families,” Majority Leader New York Senator Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

Contributed by reporting Jim Tankersley, Alan Rappeport, Margot Sanger-Katz, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Luke Broadwater.