The US Senate passed a giant new bipartisan infrastructure bill on Tuesday morning, with 19 Republicans joining the entire Democratic caucus in helping to get the bill over the finish line. It was a key affirmation of Joe Biden’s strategy to push bipartisanship in his legislative agenda, and the White House on Tuesday afternoon trumpeted that it would create “millions of jobs”, as well as support greener policies such as expanding networks of charging stations for electric cars and boosting train travel and electric buses. The $1tn bill – which still has to navigate another passage through the House of Representatives before reaching the president’s desk – would invest new federal funds in upgrading roads and bridges but also boost greener policies. Biden hailed the key step in the progress of the huge bill, tweeting: “Big news, folks: The Bipartisan infrastructure deal has officially passed the Senate. I hope Congress will send it to my desk as soon as possible so we can continue our work of building back better.” The bill focuses on updating the nation’s power grid to make it more resilient against extreme weather in the era of the climate crisis, invest in protecting public utility systems from cyber-attacks and helping to make the nation’s coastlines more protected from rising seas. It could face some opposition in the House from progressive legislators who have said they would withhold their support until the Senate passes a separate, $3.5tn package more focused on social welfare policies, like childcare and elder care. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, also previously said that she won’t take up a vote on the bill in the House until the Senate works on the follow-up social spending package. On Tuesday, though, she applauded the bill’s passage through the upper chamber, when other pieces of legislation, such as on voting rights, have stalled and died there in recent months. “Today is a day of progress … a once in a century opportunity,” said Pelosi. The bill has received support from big business and labour unions. Democrats said they expect the bill, which tops off at 2,700 pages, to touch nearly every corner of American life. “There’s been detours and everything else, but this will do a whole lot of good for America,” said the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer. The bill represents one of the largest investments in American public works in years. Vice-President Kamala Harris presided over the vote. Donald Trump worked to torpedo the bill’s success, previously threatening to withhold support from any Republican lawmaker who voted for it. “Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill will be used against the Republican party in the upcoming elections in 2022 and 2024. It will be very hard for me to endorse anyone foolish enough to vote in favor of this deal,” the former president said in a statement on Saturday. But the 19 Republicans who held steady in support of the bill included minority leader and Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell, though some conservatives complained about its high cost. “This infrastructure bill is not the perfect bill,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican from Alaska and one of the bill’s negotiators, but added: “It’s better to get some of what our constituents want rather than none of it.” The bill would also help replace lead drinking pipes, improve broadband internet, modernize and expand transit and upgrade passenger and freight rail.