Tie-breaking vote from Kamala Harris passes the Inflation Reduction Act

It was a marathon voting session that began at the US Senate on Saturday and stretched into late Sunday afternoon.

Finally, Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote cleared the $740 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which now heads to the Democrat-controlled House for a ballot.

Deadlock
It was clear none of the Republicans in the 50-50 chamber were going to vote in favor of the ambitious bill that aims to combat climate change, raise taxes on large corporations and address rising health care costs.

As expected, the Senate was locked at a 50-50 vote—till Harris cast hers.

“It’s been a long, tough and winding road, but at last, at last we have arrived,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who introduced the bill along with Senator Joe Manchin.

Insulin cap blocked
The Senate was considering more than 30 amendments to the Inflation Reduction Act. One of them was to set the $35 per month cap on insulin, an expensive medication to treat diabetes.

Even though seven Republicans voted with all 50 Democrats to keep the price ceiling, the 57-43 vote wasn’t enough to keep the provision in the bill—it needed 60 votes.

Climate change
The bill includes $369 billion in spending on energy security and fighting climate change, the highest in US history.

And climate change groups can’t be happier.

“This is the vote heard around the world. It puts America on a path to creating 550,000 new clean energy jobs while reducing economy-wide emissions 40% by 2030,” said American Clean Power.