WASHINGTON — At a moment when American democracy looks increasingly vulnerable, President Joe Biden and Democrats pointed to their third landmark bill as evidence that American government is working once again.
A nearly $400 billion investment in clean energy subsidies will mark the United States’ most serious effort ever to combat climate change. A cap on prescription drug costs will ensure that seniors on Medicare pay no more than $2,000 a year for their medications. And an extension on subsidies provided during the COVID-19 pandemic will lower health care costs for 13 million Americans.
None of these long-sought changes to U.S. law appeared likely a month ago, when last-ditch negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., his party’s critical 50th vote in the evenly divided Senate, appeared to break down.
