A bipartisan bill negotiated between moderate Senate Democrats and Republicans and narrowly approved by the House of Representatives last week was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Monday afternoon.

In a signing ceremony on the White House South Lawn, Biden touted the bill as a major legislative accomplishment, appearing alongside a handful of Republican legislators who had voted for it—against the wishes of former president Donald Trump, who castigated them in successive statements as “RINOs,” or “Republicans in Name Only.”

Biden claimed that the $1.2 trillion bill’s passage would result in tangible economic progress for the United States as it continued to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. “My message to the American people is, America is moving again,” the president said. “Your life is going to change for the better.”

The bill had been overwhelmingly approved by the Senate in August, where it had enjoyed the support of both Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). On its own, it had also enjoyed total support among House Democrats, eliminating the danger of organized Republican opposition. However, its passage was halted by infighting over Biden’s far more ambitious “Build Back Better” bill, which has yet to pass the Senate over objections from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). The original bill, which provided for $3.5 trillion in spending, was cut in half to $1.75 trillion after Manchin objected, and Manchin has indicated that he is still unhappy with the new number.

In the run-up to the bill’s passage, progressive Democrats feared that some moderate members of the Democratic caucus could support the smaller bill before turning to oppose the larger one. For this reason, when Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) indicated that she would pass the infrastructure bill without waiting for the larger bill to receive the Senate’s approval, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), revolted, threatening to sink the smaller bill unless both bills were passed at the same time.

However, this delay was later cited as a factor in the loss of favored Virginia Democrat Terry McAuliffe to his Republican challenger, Glenn Youngkin, in Virginia’s gubernatorial election on November 2. In the aftermath of that election, Jayapal dropped her objections to the vote, and Pelosi successfully scheduled and held it. Thirteen Republican representatives voted in favor of the bill, while six Democrats, all members of the progressive wing, voted against it.

Trevor Filseth is a current and foreign affairs writer for the National Interest. 

Image: Reuters