Biden signs the Cut Inflation Act

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Biden said during a signing ceremony in the State Dining Hall that the legislation, called the Inflation Reduction Act, is “one of the most important pieces of legislation in our history.”

“With this law, the American people won and special interests lost,” Biden told an audience of Democratic congressmen and administration officials. “For a while people doubted it would happen, but we’re in for a season of substance.”

A series of events focused on rolling out the new law are expected to take place in the coming weeks. The White House said Biden will soon host a Cabinet meeting focused on implementing the law, travel across the country to highlight the bill’s impact on Americans, and participate in a White House celebration afterward. Labor Day focused on the enactment of the bill.

The bill signing is the latest celebration of a major legislative achievement for Biden this summer, having already held bill signings at the White House last week for a bill to increase domestic production of semi -drivers and to increase benefits for veterans affected by toxic fires in Afghanistan and Iraq. Biden has also scored victories on several other fronts in recent months, including a bipartisan gun reform bill, ordering the successful mission to kill al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, sending billions in aid to Ukraine to help that nation defend against Russian invasion and to help Finland and Sweden begin the process of joining NATO.

The act accomplishes several key elements of Biden’s legislative agenda, representing the largest climate investment in American history and making major changes to health policy by giving Medicare the power for the first time to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs and extending expiring health care subsidies for three years. The legislation will reduce the deficit, be paid for by new taxes – including a minimum 15% tax on large corporations and a 1% tax on stock buybacks – and strengthen the collection capacity of the Internal Revenue Service .

It will generate more than $700 billion in government revenue over 10 years and spend more than $430 billion to reduce carbon emissions and expand health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act and use the rest new revenue to reduce the deficit.

Senate Democrats had long hoped to pass a signature legislative package that would include key items on the party’s agenda, but struggled for months to reach a deal that won the full support of their caucus.

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin — a major fixture for much of Biden’s tenure — played a key role in the legislation, agreeing to a deal that was announced late last month. Schumer and Manchin attended Tuesday’s signing ceremony at the White House.

The bill passed the Senate earlier this month after 4 p.m. of amendment votes – known as vote-a-rama – and the House of Representatives approved the bill along party lines last Friday.
The bill Biden signed on Tuesday does not include several provisions that was previously proposed under the president’s plan, including paid family and sick leave, universal preschool, an extension of the enhanced child tax credit, as well as provisions to reduce the cost of college education .
The key legislative victory comes as the White House plans a major speech for Biden after Labor Daywhich is billed as a hard-hitting kick-off for the midterm campaign.

Aides are preparing a speech in which the president will tout tangible, long-talked-about victories like lowering prescription drug costs and restrictions on guns, while hammering Republicans for being extremists who are in the pocket of particular interests.

Democrats are fighting to maintain their narrow majorities in Congress. And it’s not entirely clear whether voter perceptions of the president or his party will improve in the fall after a summer of dismal polls.

A CNN poll published in late July, for example, found that 75% of Democratic voters want their party to nominate someone other than Biden for president in 2024.

Now the White House is aiming to make the most of a series of victories – including the passage of the Cut Inflation Act – as part of a rush to restore its image ahead of the election. of November.

CNN’s Donald Judd, Alex Rogers, Clare Foran, Ali Zaslav, Manu Raju and Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this report.

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