The United State (U.S) Congress has approved a $3.5 trillion (about £2.54tn) budget blueprint, thereby setting the stage for Democrats to fund President Joe Biden’s ambitious economic agenda.
The rule, which was passed on Tuesday, permits the Biden-led Democratic Party, which narrowly controls both chambers of the legislature, to move ahead with key policy proposals.
According to Biden’s fiscal blueprint which passed the House of Representatives 220-212, with no Republican support, the government intends to commit significant resources to family support, health and climate schemes.
Before sailing through the legislative process, the resolution’s fate was unclear as late as Tuesday morning, amid a standoff between progressive and centrist House Democrats.
As it were now, the Democrats are enacting a process called ‘Budget Reconciliation’ to approve President Biden’s larger spending package. The passage of the budget blueprint on Tuesday was the first step in the process.
Before the passage of the blueprint, a group of 10 moderate Democratic lawmakers had threatened to withhold votes on it unless the House first approved a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill introduced for enactment to fund roads, bridges, the power grid, public transport and internet, amongst other capital projects.
To win a compromise after over 24 hours of debate, top House Democrats assured their moderate co-lawmakers that the infrastructure bill would be deliberated upon on 27 September, at the resumption of the House from break.
Before the voting, the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, said: “Passing this rule paves the way for the Building Back Better plan, which will forge legislative progress unseen in 50 years”, pointing out that delaying the passage will threaten the economic plan and other bills.
According to Biden, the government’s Build Back Better domestic plan, which is being largely financed with tax increases on the rich and large corporations, is aimed at creating jobs and lowering costs for working families. It is.
Since June, the Speaker had said that that far-reaching $3.5 trillion infrastructure plan must move forward before the infrastructure deal.
Despite the potential benefits, some liberal Democrats had said they would not support the infrastructure bill unless it was integrated with the larger economic package, which contains their key legislative priorities, like childcare programmes and taxes on the wealthy.
However, the centrists demanded a vote on infrastructure first, and accused other Democrats of attempting to hold the infrastructure bill hostage.
