U.S. House Passes $3.5 Trillion Budget Blueprint To Biden's Delight

A divided House approved a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint that would pave the way for a vast expansion of social safety net and climate programs, as Democrats overcame Monday sharp internal rifts to advance a critical piece of President Biden’s ambitious domestic agenda.

Photo Insert: The blueprint will include universal preschool, paid family leave, federal support for child care and elder care, an expansion of Medicare, and a broad effort to tackle climate change — all paid for through tax increases on high earners and companies.

Approval of the budget was a milestone in Democrats’ drive to enact their top priorities — including huge investments in education, child care, health care and paid leave, and tax increases on wealthy people and corporations — over Republican opposition, Emily Cochrane reported for the New York Times.

But it came only after Democratic leaders quelled an internal revolt among moderates, who had balked at passing the plan before the House acted on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package.

As the White House mounted a pressure campaign to win their backing, Speaker Nancy Pelosi engineered a plan to tie both measures together with one vote, allowing approval of the budget blueprint with a vote on a measure committing the House to taking up the infrastructure bill by Sept. 27.

The vote was 220-212, along party lines, to advance the budget plan and allow for future votes on both the infrastructure bill and on a voting rights measure that was on track to pass later Tuesday.

While the budget plan, which passed the Senate this month, does not have the force of law, its final approval allows Democrats to move forward with a fast-track process known as reconciliation.

That would enshrine the details of the blueprint in legislation that is shielded from a filibuster, allowing it to pass the Senate over the opposition of Republicans.

It is expected to include universal preschool, paid family leave, federal support for child care and elder care, an expansion of Medicare, and a broad effort to tackle climate change — all paid for through tax increases on high earners and companies.

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