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Biden to celebrate Inflation Reduction Act with big White House event

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, President Biden will host a major event at the White House to celebrate the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

It is expected to be a victory lap for the president within two months of the midterm elections.

On Monday, the White House press secretary said “thousands” of supporters will gather on the South Lawn.

Biden signed the act last month, handing the pen to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), who agreed to the bill after blocking many of the provisions for months.

“Today offers further proof that the soul of America is vibrant, the future of America is bright and the promise of America is real and just beginning,” Biden said before the signing.

The $740 billion act lowers prescription drug prices, increases taxes on big corporations and invests in clean energy to fight climate change.

“The Inflation Reduction Act does so many things that for so many years, so many of us have fought to make happen,” Biden said last month.

“Families desperately need us to tackle rising costs and rising temperatures,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said on the Senate floor before the vote.

Murray touted the nation’s largest investment in climate action, which includes tax breaks for people looking to buy solar panels, heat pumps or electric cars.

“Washington state has seen droughts and wildfires and floods and heat waves that literally made our roads buckle,” Murray said.

“We need to fight climate change, I believe that is best solved at the local level with folks who are closest to the issue on that,” Murray’s Republican challenger, Tiffany Smiley, said Monday.

Smiley said the Inflation Reduction Act represents out-of-control spending as the country heads into recession.

“Gas prices are still high, even if they’ve gone down slightly, they’re still high. And grocery bills are high, that’s what I’m mostly hearing,” Smiley said.

Todd Myers of the conservative Washington Policy Center said the act focuses too much on rewarding political allies like labor unions, rather than making investments that reduce carbon.

“The more concerned you are about climate change, the more you should demand that every dollar is spent well and not siphoned off by special interests,” Myers said.

KIRO 7 will have live reports from the White House on Tuesday.