Now in possession of 725 pages of legislative text, Democrats eagerly began digesting the size and scope of the measure, which amounts to far less than the more ambitious, roughly $2 trillion proposal that the House adopted last year. But a wide array of party lawmakers appeared ready to embrace the new agreement anyway, having seemingly put months of acrimonious bickering with Manchin finally behind them.
The bill includes the largest investment in fighting climate change in U.S. history, aiming to boost clean-energy technology even as it delivers some of the support Manchin sought for fossil fuels. It also aims to lower health-care costs, particularly through changes to Medicare that could reduce some prescription drug prices for seniors. Speaking to reporters later Thursday, Schumer announced that Democrats plan to add other elements that target the price of insulin.
To cover its costs, the bill looks to bolster the Internal Revenue Service to pursue tax cheats while setting a minimum tax on corporations, targeting profitable firms that pay nothing to the U.S. government. And it raises more than $300 billion that can be used to reduce the federal deficit.