Stripped from the legislation was a measure requiring women to register with the Selective Service System for the first time in American history, as well as new sanctions on a Russian gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2.
Leaders of the armed services committees also excluded a House-passed provision to repeal the 2002 law authorizing the invasion of Iraq, which has been stretched by multiple administrations to justify military action around the world. Repealing the authorization had been expected to win broad bipartisan backing in the Senate, part of a growing push underway in Congress to reassert itself on matters of war and peace and rethink presidential powers.
But that debate was pushed off for another day amid other disputes.
Also scrapped was a provision that would place visa bans on any foreign individuals that American intelligence officials found responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Proponents of the legislation argued that despite the choppy process, senators had ultimately united to back crucial investments to maintain military supremacy.
Biden’s Social Policy Bill at a Glance
Card 1 of 7The centerpiece of Biden’s domestic agenda. The sprawling $2.2 trillion spending bill aims to battle climate change, expand health care and bolster the social safety net. Here’s a look at some key provisions and how they might affect you:
Child care. The proposal would provide universal pre-K for all children ages 3 and 4 and subsidized child care for many families. The bill also extends an expanded tax credit for parents through 2022.
Paid leave. The proposal would provide workers with four weeks of paid family and medical leave, which would allow the U.S. to exit the group of only six countries in the world without any national paid leave. However, this provision is likely to be dropped in the Senate.
Health care. The bill’s health provisions, which represent the biggest step toward universal coverage since the Affordable Care Act, would expand access for children, make insurance more affordable for working-age adults and improve Medicare benefits for disabled and older Americans.
Drug prices. The plan includes a provision that would, for the first time, allow the government to negotiate prices for some prescription drugs covered by Medicare.
Climate change. The single largest piece of the bill is $555 billion for climate programs. The centerpiece of the climate spending is about $320 billion in tax incentives for producers and purchasers of wind, solar and nuclear power.
Taxes. The plan calls for nearly $2 trillion in tax increases on corporations and the rich. The bill also raises the cap on how much residents — particularly in high-tax blue states — can deduct in state and local taxes, undoing the so-called SALT cap.
“The security situation with both China and Russia has gotten far worse since the Armed Services Committee first advanced this bill back in July,” said Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee. “It’s gotten worse every few days, certainly each week. I can’t think of a more necessary bill to pass right now.”
“I know defense isn’t President Biden’s top priority, but we showed it is a bipartisan priority in this Congress,” Mr. Inhofe added.
The bill includes several provisions requiring that the administration provide more reports to Congress on Afghanistan, including one requesting regular briefings that assess the surveillance and reconnaissance capacity of the United States to conduct counterterrorism operations there.