The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act over the weekend brings the total amount of spending in the pipeline by congressional Democrats to around $3.5 trillion since President Joe Biden took office, with the imposing tally coming as Americans struggle with an inflationary cost-of-living crisis.
Senators passed the sweeping bill (pdf), estimated at $740 billion, in a 51–50 vote on Aug. 7, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.
The package, which Republicans have panned as a tax-and-spend bonanza and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said would have a negligible impact on inflation, next goes to the House for consideration.
Assuming the bill clears all remaining legislative hurdles and gets signed into law by the president, this would bring the total amount of big-ticket spending by congressional Democrats under Biden’s watch to nearly $3.5 trillion….