Bernie Sanders says he was happy to support the Senate's climate and healthcare bill — but it 'goes nowhere near far enough in addressing the problems facing struggling working families'

• On Sunday, the Senate passed its $740 billion climate and healthcare spending bill.
• Sen. Bernie Sanders had repeatedly said it didn't go far enough to help working families.

Bernie Sanders is once again making his thoughts on the Senate's climate and healthcare bill known.

"This reconciliation bill goes nowhere near far enough in addressing the problems facing struggling working families. But it is a step forward and I was happy to support it," Sanders said in a Sunday night statement.

It's not the first time that Sanders has expressed discontent over what the bill lacked. In the week leading up to its passage, Sanders repeatedly called for more, saying it was an "extremely modest bill that does virtually nothing to address the enormous crises facing the working families of our country." Sanders continued to push for measures like the expanded child tax credit, universal pre-K, and other social spending measures axed from the original Build Back Better package.

But the bill went on without any of those proposals. On Sunday afternoon, the Senate passed the $740 billion bill through the simple majority budget reconciliation process, with Vice President Kamala Harris joining the 50 senators who caucus with the Democrats to push through the legislation.

He had also referred to the bill as the "so-called" Inflation Reduction Act, pointing to analyses that found it will have little effect on inflation. Instead, he stressed the importance of addressing crises families face like lack of affordable childcare, healthcare, and access to secure housing.

"If we cannot do that, not only will people continue to hurt and suffer but to my mind, it is questionable how long we will remain a democracy," Sanders said in floor remarks on Saturday.

The road to passage was arduous, coming after a 14-hour voting session, during which Democrats dodged a slew of proposals from Republicans to add amendments to the bill. They also voted down amendments from Sanders to cap prescription drug prices, expand Medicare benefits, and create a Civilian Climate Corps.

At one point, the independent senator from Vermont brought forward an amendment to reinstate the now-lapsed enhanced child tax credit. Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio who has been a champion for the credit and its expansion, said he thinks the measure is important — but couldn't threaten the fragility of the bill by voting for the amendment.

According to The Hill, after Brown wrapped up his remarks on the child tax credit amendment, he reportedly said: "Come on, Bernie."

Ultimately, Sanders joined with fellow Democrats to vote for the bill, and said that the $300 billion for clean energy measures is "unprecedented."

"This legislation also takes a small step in dealing with the outrageous prices of prescription drugs. Finally, we are giving Medicare the power to directly negotiate prescription drug prices with manufacturers on behalf of beneficiaries," Sanders said. "Unfortunately, that provision does not kick in until 2026 and starts with only ten drugs."