The House of Representatives passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill late on Friday following a compromise between moderate and progressive Democrats.
The bill had already been passed in the Senate with some Republican support and 13 GOP members of the House joined most Democrats in voting to pass the infrastructure proposal in what will be seen as a win for President Joe Biden.
The House voted at 11.24 p.m. E.T. after weeks of divisions within the Democratic Party as progressives sought to link the bipartisan bill to a separate reconciliation bill known as the Build Back Better Act.
The bill passed by a vote of 228 to 206 with six progressive Democrats joining the majority of Republican members in voting against the measure.
The Republicans who voted in favor of the bill were: Don Bacon of Nebraska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Andrew Garbarino of New York, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Nicole Malliotakis of New York, David McKinley of West Virginia, Tom Reed of New York, Chris Smith of New Jersey, Fred Upton of Michigan, Jeff van Drew of New Jersey and Don Young of Alaska.
The bill will now head to President Biden's desk for his signature. It had already passed the Senate in August by a vote of 69-30 with 19 Republicans offering their support, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The House also passed a procedural vote shortly after midnight to advance consideration of the Build Back Better Act.
Democrats aim to pass the second bill through the budget reconciliation process, which will not require Republican support, but divisions between moderates and progressives have complicated passage of the Build Back Better Act.
Biden said he looked forward to signing both bills in a statement issued following the House vote on Friday night.
"Tonight, we took a monumental step forward as a nation," the president's statement said, calling the newly passed legislation a "once-in-generation bipartisan infrastructure bill that will create millions of jobs, turn the climate crisis into an opportunity, and put us on a path to win the economic competition for the 21st Century."
However, the 13 Republicans' decision to back the bill was also met with criticism.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia's 14th congressional district called those GOP members "traitors."
"Here are the 'Republicans' that just voted to help Biden screw America," Greene tweeted on Friday along with a list of the members of the House in question.
"But 6 Democrats did more than these 13 traitor Republicans to stop Biden's fake Infrastructure bill by voting NO," she wrote.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
