President Joe Biden signed the infrastructure bill into law on Monday afternoon, notching a major legislative victory as Democrats struggle to get a social spending bill containing the bulk of his domestic priorities over the finish line.
The new law brings a fresh infusion of federal money to America’s aging public-works system, to repair roads and bridges, renovate ports, and expand broadband access, as well as replace every lead pipe in the US.
The president emphasized how lawmakers had managed to break through the partisan gridlock and craft a measure capable of improving people’s lives, both tenets guiding his presidency.
“Too often in Washington, the reason we don’t get things done is because we insist on getting everything we want,” the president said in prepared remarks at the signing. “With this law, we focused on getting things done.”