House Passes ‘Build Back Better’ Bill
Vote Had Been Delayed by Unhinged Marathon Rant by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy
All about Kevin's crazed eight-hour rant (nytimes.com)McCarthy delivers 8 hrs of sound and fury signifying nothing (dailykos.com)Kevin McCarthy’s stunt backfired — he gave Dems a bigger win in broad daylight: CNN's Kaitlan Collins (rawstory.com)McCarthy’s stunt underscores rancor in the House (washingtonpost.com)Now It's the Senate's Turn (buzzfeednews.com)
The White House calls it
The most transformative investment in children and caregiving in generations.
The largest effort to combat climate change in American history.
The biggest expansion of affordable health care in a decade.
The most significant effort to bring down costs and strengthen the middle class in generations.
One of the most ambitious budget bills in American history has at last passed the House of Representatives. Salon:
After a late-night marathon stunt from the Republican leader in the House of Representatives, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, and a flood of last-minute money from multiple conservative groups targeted at moderates, House Democrats passed President Joe Biden’s signature legislation.
The hard-fought legislation was finally passed on Friday in a near-unanimous party-line vote. Maine’s Jared Golden, who cited tax breaks for the wealthy as the source for his opposition, was the only Democrat to vote against the package. Vulnerable Democrats like Golden faced ad campaigns in their districts in recent weeks funded by right-wing opponents to President Biden’s landmark domestic spending bill.
The vote was delayed by a marathon rant by the House Minority Leader:
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California early Friday concluded a marathon speech in opposition to the Democrats’ social policy bill, after talking for eight hours and 32 minutes, surpassing the length of one by Representative Nancy Pelosi in 2018 that held the record for the longest continuous House speech in modern history.
“Personally I didn’t think I could go this long,” Mr. McCarthy said toward the end of his monologue as some of the people behind him struggled to keep their eyes open. Finally, after 5 a.m., he finished. “With that, Madam Speaker, I yield back,” he said.