House Democrats have passed a $1tn bill to rebuild the nation’s ageing infrastructure after months of delay, delivering Joe Biden a long-awaited legislative victory that he boasted would put the US “on a path to win the economic competition for the 21st century”.

Applause filled the chamber as a bipartisan group of lawmakers gave final passage to the measure late on Friday night, sending it to Biden’s desk. The vote was 228 to 206, with 13 Republicans supporting the bill and six leftwing Democrats opposing it.

Approval of the legislation fulfils one of the president’s central campaign promises to “build back better” in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as his vow to work across the aisle with Republicans, even as he pushes the rest of his agenda forward on a party-line basis.

In a second vote, held shortly after midnight, the House voted 221-213 to clear a procedural hurdle that paves the way for a final vote on a $1.75tn domestic policy and climate change bill, which they hope to pass before Thanksgiving.

“Tonight, we took a monumental step forward as a nation,” Biden said in a statement, expressing his desire to swiftly sign both measures into law. “Generations from now, people will look back and know this is when America won the economic competition for the 21st century.”

The pair of votes closed the curtain on a daylong saga that pitted House progressives against moderates, as Biden and Democratic leaders scrambled to salvage his agenda from yet another delay in a process beset by false starts.