The Senate has passed the $739-billion Inflation Reduction Act 51-50, along party lines with Vice President Harris providing the tiebreaker, The Hill reports. The corporate tax/climate change/healthcare legislation survived a Vote-o-Rama that included an amendment by Sen. John Thune (R-SD) that extended a SALT cap (state and local deductions) that is part of the 2017 Trump tax cut bill. 

Ruled by the Senate parliamentarian as eligible for budget reconciliation, Democrats were able to pass it without fear of a Republican filibuster.

Thune’s amendment, which passed with the support of seven Democrats including Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema, was considered a threat to the bill because the deduction ceiling hurts many households in blue states and districts, according to The Hill’s report. But a subsequent amendment replaced the SALT cap extension with another revenue stream. Several Democrats offered hugs to Sinema as the vote on the final passage happened, the report says. 

Sinema’s support had been Democrats’ biggest concern after compromise on the bill, a heavily reduced version of President Biden’s $3-trillion-plus Build Back Better proposal, that was negotiated between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sinema ally Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).

--Todd Lassa