Senate Democrats passed signature legislation early Sunday morning tackling climate change and prescription drug prices, sending the bill to the House of Representatives.

Known as the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, it will be the US government’s biggest step towards reducing domestic emissions at a time when global targets are shaken. It will also allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, limit the cost of insulin for Medicare recipients, and maintain subsidies for Obamacare.

The voting came after a series of ballots known as “rama votes” that began late on Saturday evening and continued until Sunday afternoon. All 50 people voted for the bill, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, while all Republicans voted for it.

“This is an example of a leader who understands that there are solutions available if people have the willingness and courage to step forward and solve the problem,” Harris said. Independent.

The bill is now going to the House of Representatives and will likely pass if only 9 out of 220 Democrats oppose it. The White House says President Joe Biden will sign the bill.

The law comes after Democrats spent more than a year passing domestic legislation signed by President Joe Biden. Mr. Biden initially hoped to pass a massive social spending bill that included expanded child tax credit spending; home care for the disabled; Extended hearing coverage for Medicare recipients; immigration reform; and stronger efforts to combat climate change and promote clean energy. They hoped to pass this on alongside the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

But Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative Democratic Senator from West Virginia, announced the opposition law known as Build Back Better in December. This led to repeated negotiations between Mr. Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Late last month, Mr. Schumer and Mr. Manchin announced an agreement known as the Inflation Reduction Act, in reference to Mr Manchin’s concerns about rising prices.

This will also increase America’s credibility on the international stage as Mr. Biden plans to go to Egypt for COP27, where he will demand from other major emitters in China, Europe and beyond to sharply cut their fossil fuel use.

The bill proposes $369 billion in climate and clean energy investments over the next 10 years, including billions of dollars in tax incentives to expand renewable energy, battery storage and nuclear power.

The legislation also provides tax credits to make it easier to buy electric vehicles, help farmers reduce agricultural emissions, and fund improvements in minority and low-income communities most hit by climate and environmental pollution.

Several recent analyzes of the IRA from independent policy groups have found that by the end of the decade it will reduce emissions by about 40 percent (below 2005 levels). It puts the US very close to President Joe Biden’s promise to cut US emissions in half by 2030.

Some climate activists and environmental groups have objected to aspects of the bill, which was required to get Mr Manchin, who made a fortune from the state’s coal industry, on board, such as the requirement that the government auction rents for oil and gas drilling. Public lands and water, including the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska.

Coal and gas power plants using carbon capture technology will also receive extended tax credits. Mr Manchin was also given a separate promise that permitted progress would be accelerated through the Mountain Valley gas pipeline in West Virginia.

At the same time, many Democratic Senators have said they will not vote on any change to legislation that considers any major climate legislation their only chance to pass.

Many Democrats also expressed their excitement over the fact that Medicare would allow it to negotiate drug prices. But Senate Member of Parliament Elizabeth MacDonough has issued guidance that weakens some of the legislation that would force pharmaceutical companies to cut Medicare if they raise drug prices higher than inflation.

The legislator dealt the Democrats another blow when he announced that his plan to limit insulin to $35 for private insurance patients did not meet the budget consensus rules. This led Republicans to establish a point of order to remove it from the bill.

Legislation required Democrats to get 60 votes to keep the price of insulin for private insurance patients at $35, but only seven Republicans voted to keep it.

Similarly, Republican Senate Minority Whip John Thune sought to add a vote to the Democrats’ recommended minimum corporate tax for certain privately-owned companies, as a way of persuading conservative Arizona Democrat Senator Kyrsten Cinema. However, the change would endanger the law in the House as it continues a cap on state and local tax cuts imposed during the Trump tax cuts, which many Democrats in New York, New Jersey, and California oppose.

Six Democrats attended Miss Cinema, including Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia; Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto from Nevada; Mark Kelly of Arizona; and Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia proposed a replacement amendment that passed with all Democratic votes.

Despite the setbacks, Democrats passed the bill early Sunday evening.

Michigan Senator Gary Peters, who as chair of the Democratic Senator Campaign Committee is responsible for electing Democrats and protecting incumbents, said the prescription drug direction will help Democrats on their campaign path.

“If you look at the polls, it’s like the number one issue for most people in the country right now,” he said. Independent to start the discussion on the bill during the voting.

The Democrats also took a beating when Republicans failed to issue an order to remove some of the legislation that would allow non-Medicare patients to have an upper limit on insulin costs.

Criticizing the bill as inadequate, Senator Bernie Sanders proposed a change that would allow Medicare to negotiate all drug prices, instead of initially just ten drugs by 2024 and 20 by 2029.

“I think it’s absolutely imperative that this Congress say at least in one party that we understand the crises that working families are facing and that we will stand by them and vote on some serious changes to improve this bill. He told reporters on Saturday afternoon.

But a change to include dental, hearing and vision care in Medicare, alongside Mr. Sanders’ change in drug prices, failed, with most Democrats opposing the bill.

Despite domestic opposition, many Democrats hailed the bill’s passage. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown said this showed Democrats could take on special interest groups.

“So, when you first think about it, we undertook, pharmaceutical companies that never lose. We’ve taken over oil companies that don’t rarely lose and we take over Wall Street and we’ve won all three, and he said how important that is.