By David Morgan and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on President Joe Biden’s $1.75 trillion social and climate spending bill on Friday after an hours-long overnight delay by the chamber’s top Republican.
Democrats, who hold a slim majority in the House, are seeking to advance Biden’s massive domestic investment bill https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/whats-bidens-175-trillion-build-back-better-package-2021-11-05, which has been scaled down from their initial $3.5 trillion plan but still aims to invest millions to expand education, lower healthcare costs and tackle climate change.
The chamber reconvened at 8 a.m. (1300 GMT) with a vote planned soon after. If the measure passes, it would still need approval in the Senate, where it is likely to face changes, before Biden could sign it into law.
The move comes after Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spoke for more than seven hours starting late Thursday night in remarks cataloging a list of Republican grievances – some related to the bill and some not – while at times shouting over Democrats in the House who were openly dismissive of his obstruction.
It also follows the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) estimate that the bill would raise federal budget deficits by $367 billion over 10 years, but that additional revenues from improved Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax collections could generate a net increase in revenues of $127 billion through 2031.
The White House estimates the IRS changes will generate $400 billion in additional revenue and says the bill overall will reduce deficits by $121 billion over a decade.
Several moderate Democrats said they needed the CBO’s assessment before they would vote, and several of them said they accepted the White House’s math.
The legislation follows the $1 trillion infrastructure https://www.reuters.com/world/us/roads-bridges-airports-details-bidens-1-trillion-infrastructure-bill-2021-11-05 investment bill that Biden signed into law this week – two key pillars of Biden’s domestic agenda – and a separate $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that passed in March.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Katharine Jackson, Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone and Alex Richardson)
