How Progressives Triumphed in Congress

But corporate voices are no longer the loudest. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the progressive movement has shown it is a force to be reckoned with. After more than a year of negotiations, Democrats have delivered on priorities they’ve campaigned on for years: lowering prescription-drug and energy costs, extending health coverage for millions of people and taking the largest-ever federal action on climate while creating millions of jobs. The act will finally make the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes.

Progressives on and off Capitol Hill used a concerted organizing strategy to deliver this win for working Americans. The Inflation Reduction Act isn’t everything progressives wanted, but without that progressive organizing, we wouldn’t have it at all.

The newly passed legislation originated from President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda: a broad vision to meet the individual and collective challenges that Americans face. The White House’s embrace of a progressive agenda was born from decades of organizing and advocacy by movements, together with paradigm-shifting presidential candidates who were unafraid to run on bold, transformative platforms. The original Build Back Better bill would have delivered affordable housing, home care for people with disabilities, universal child care and immigrant justice. All are investments that America desperately needs.

Unfortunately, more-conservative forces prevailed, splitting up the president’s agenda. The Senate passed a much smaller infrastructure deal with no clear path forward to enact the rest of Build Back Better, jeopardizing the entire economic agenda. But progressives exercised unprecedented power, organizing as a bloc to hold the line, forcing negotiations that created a bill that passed the House with almost unanimous Democratic support.

Meanwhile, grass-roots networks monitored the bill’s movements and alerted local activists in key districts to take action. When supporters of the bill wavered between the demands of corporate lobbyists and the needs of their constituents, activist leaders organized communities to increase pressure for them to hold the line. When Congress was primed to break for recess, constituents flooded their phones with demands of “No vacation without legislation.”

When rogue corporate Democrats tried to kill parts of the bill, grass-roots activists responded immediately with in-district protests. One such Democrat, Rep. Kurt Schrader (D., Ore.), later lost his seat to a grass-roots-empowered challenger who channeled public outrage at his sabotage of the bill. Others, such as Rep. Kathleen Rice (D., N.Y.), opted to retire rather than possibly face a similar fate.

When a Senate deal emerged this summer, after months of dogged work by Majority Leader

Chuck Schumer

and his staff, we celebrated. House Democrats’ determination and success in passing the Build Back Better Act allowed the Inflation Reduction Act to draw from our original legislation.

The legislation couldn’t come at a better time. Its passage makes the case for what Democrats can deliver when they have power and sets the stage for what a bigger majority can achieve. It’s a reminder of the stakes: This bill passed despite unanimous Republican opposition. The Republicans voted to strip out the cap on insulin at $35 a month for everyone with private insurance—a harrowing demonstration of their party’s dangerous, obstructionist approach to governance and what awaits our country if they reclaim power.

Progressives inside and outside Congress will continue to fight for crucial provisions that didn’t make the final bill: child and home care investments, housing, immigrant justice, Medicare expansion and more. We’re heartbroken that so much of Build Back Better was left out, but we can see how close we are to achieving the rest of the president’s economic agenda. Progressives crafted the legislative language and won over 99% of congressional Democrats and huge majorities of the public. With only a few more Democratic senators, we can get this done.

With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, we have proved that when America sends progressives to Congress, they organize on the inside, engage in savvy governing and work with colleagues to advance the Democratic agenda. Activists aren’t ancillary to the Democratic Party. They are the Democratic Party, and they will hold their representatives accountable. With a shared vision for a just and equitable future, Democrats can overcome moneyed interests and intransigent Republicans. That is how we will pass the rest of the president’s agenda.

Ms. Jayapal, a Democrat, represents Washington’s Seventh Congressional District and is chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Ms. Greenberg is a co-founder and co-executive director of the Indivisible Project.