With infrastructure vote, Congress gives Biden long-needed jolt of good news
WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) – With this week’s election results in New Jersey and Virginia suggesting that voters are souring on Democrats, President Joe Biden badly needed a jolt of good news. And on Friday, he finally got a little. The U.S. House of Representatives, controlled by his Democrats, passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to repair the nation’s airports, roads and bridges — three months after the Senate — sending the bill to Biden’s desk for signature into law. On top of that, a sweeping $1.75 trillion social-spending and climate bill that is a centerpiece of Biden’s presidential campaign, passed a procedural hurdle in the House, though it remains unclear when it will get a final vote. That came the same day the government reported a better-than-expected more than 500,000 jobs were added last month, suggesting the economic rebound is gathering pace. Pfizer Inc also said its experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 had shown dramatic results.
The stock market soared in response. Biden became president in January and got off to a strong start, passing a $2 trillion economic stimulus package and rushing out vaccines to tackle the spread of COVID-19. His administration has successfully delivered at least one dose of vaccine to about 80% of the population, and has overseen strong economic growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq all hit a string of record high…
