U.S. House passes infrastructure bill after months of delay amid Democratic infighting

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. House of Representatives on Friday night passed a bipartisan 1-trillion-U.S.-dollar infrastructure bill after months of delay amid Democratic infighting over a social spending package, sending the long-waited legislation to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill was approved in the lower chamber in a 228-206 vote, with 13 Republicans joining Democrats in support of the legislation. Six progressive Democrats voted against it. Biden is expected to sign the bill, which is considered a major priority for his administration.

In late March, Biden unveiled a roughly 2-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan, which was harshly criticized by Republican lawmakers, who argued it was not targeted on infrastructure and was too costly.

After months of negotiations, a bipartisan group of senators reached an agreement on a roughly 1-trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, which includes 550 billion dollars in new spending on infrastructure projects, such as roads, bridges, passenger rails, drinking water and waste water systems. The rest of the package involves previously approved spending.

The U.S. Senate approved the bill in August. Progressive House Democrats have held up the Senate-passed bill for months, demanding a vote on the larger social spending plan, whose size and scope have been a source of contention within the Democratic Party.

Democrats planned to pass both the infrastructure bill and the party's shrunken 1.75-trillion-dollar social spending package, which together made up the core of Biden's domestic agenda, but failed to advance the latter.

Progressives and centrists, however, agreed to approve the long-delayed infrastructure bill with a commitment to take up the social spending bill no later than the week of Nov. 15, according to Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal