The House of Representatives is expected to pass President Joe Biden's sweeping $370 billion Inflation Reduction Act Friday.
The legislation - which passed the Senate with only Democratic votes on Sunday - aims to reduce the price of prescription drugs and health insurance and includes a number of green energy initiatives, two major pillars of Biden's original Build Back Better plan.
'And today, today is really a glorious day for us. We send to the president's desk a monumental bill that will, will be truly for the people, the Inflation Reduction Act,' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during her Friday morning press conference.
Pelosi commended Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for ushering the package through the Senate. 'Sadly, for all the good that it does, without one Republican vote,' the Democratic leader pointed out.
House Republicans, too, are expected to reject the measure en masse.The House of Representatives will vote Friday on the Inflation Reduction Act. With Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, pictured arriving on the Hill Friday morning, expected to vote for the legislation
A procedural vote to begin debate Friday morning was split along party lines, with 219 Democrats voting for it and 208 Republicans against.
While final passage is expected mid-afternoon Friday, Republicans could use procedural hurdles to delay a vote for hours.
Republicans have grumbled that the bill will raise taxes on the middle class - a dubious claim according to the Associated Press fact-checkers.
They've also pointed to funds in the legislation that go toward hiring more Internal Revenue Service employees, suggesting average American could be subjected to tax audits.
The Treasury Department said audits for those earning less than $400,000 are not expected to spike.
The bill's passage will give Biden and Democrats some much-needed momentum going into the fall midterm campaign season.
Historically, the president's party loses seats in Congress during the leader's first midterm in office.
Biden has also been plagued by low poll numbers for months, as he's had to deal with a series of crises, from the COVID-19 pandemic, to 40-year high inflation, to a baby formula shortage and also the war in Ukraine. His administration also oversaw a messy pull-out from Afghanistan a year ago.
On the legislative front, however, Biden has presided over a number of successes.Last year, Congress passed a massive COVID relief bill and then the bipartisan infrastructure package. However in December, the Build Back Better bill, which was supposed to be a follow-up to the COVID relief bill and contained healthcare, childcare and climate change provisions, looked dead in the water after moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin refused to sign on. But late last month, Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced they had come to a deal and rolled out the Inflation Reduction Act.