- The House of Representatives passed President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better social spending bill Friday morning
- The vote was 220 to 213, with only one Democratic defection
- Biden wasn’t immediately able to celebrate, as he was at Walter Reed for his first annual physical as president, and due to undergo a colonoscopy
- The vote had been delayed after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spoke on the House floor for an astonishing eight hours and 32 minutes
- The bill now heads to the Senate
The House of Representatives passed President Joe Biden‘s Build Back Better social spending bill Friday morning, with a vote of 220 to 213.
Just one Democrat, Rep. Jared Golden, defected and voted with the Republicans.
The bill includes universal pre-K, expanded Medicare access to hearing aids, four weeks of paid family and medical leave, child care cost reductions and a number of provisions to combat climate change.
Biden wasn’t immediately able to celebrate the accomplishment, as he was at Walter Reed for his first annual physical as president, and due to undergo a colonoscopy – leaving Vice President Kamala Harris briefly in charge.
House Democrats, however, were doing happy dancing and taking selfies. When the bill got passed the 218 threshold, meaning it would pass, chants of ‘Build Back Better’ broke out. Democratic members yelled ‘Nancy, Nancy, Nancy,’ as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was leaving the dais after chairing the final count.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden was able to call Pelosi Friday morning to congratulate her on the bill’s passage.