Sunday 7 August 2022 08:28 PM Senate PASSES Biden-backed $740billion reconciliation bill with no Republican ... trends now

The Senate has passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a $740 billion climate change and healthcare spending bill that has been the result of months-long talks within the Democratic Party.

No Republican lawmakers signed onto the bill, though Democrats were able to pass it via a simple majority through the budget reconciliation process.

Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in the evenly divided chamber. 

It's a major win for Democrats' agenda, whose prospects in the looming midterm elections had looked dim for months.

Lawmakers had been debating the package since 11 p.m. on Saturday, and continued into late afternoon on Sunday without stopping.

But Republicans have accused Democrats of misleading the American public with the the legislation's name, claiming it won't help sky-high inflation and citing a study that says it could increase taxes on every income bracket.

GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida called the bill a 'war on seniors' during an interview on CBS News' Face The Nation and claimed it would raise Medicare costs.

'Right now, this bill actually ought to be called the war on seniors act. I mean, this is a war on Medicare. If you look at this. This is a $280 billion cut in Medicare,' Scott said.

Meanwhile Democrat Sen. Chris Coons of Connecticut admitted on ABC News' This Week that the bill could take 'a year or more' to cut inflation.

'But, look...we’ve seen gas prices come down week after week after week for the last five weeks in a row,' Coons defended.