BREAKING: Congress Passes $900 Billion Covid Stimulus Package, Bill Advances to White House for Trump’s Expected Signature
Congress officially passed a $900 billion coronavirus relief package which was attached to a broader, $1.4 trillion omnibus government spending bill on Monday night, clearing the House and Senate by overwhelming majorities. The bill will now head to the White House where President Donald Trump is expected to quickly sign it.
In the House, the ominous bill which included the massive defense budget passed 327 – 85, while a second vote approving the Covid-19 stimulus deal sailed through 359 – 53. The bills enjoyed similarly broad bipartisan support in the Senate, with the coronavirus relief bill 92 – 6. The only ‘no’ votes in the Senate came from six Republicans: Marsha Blackburn (TN), Rand Paul (KY), Rick Scott (FL), Ron Johnson (WI), Mike Lee (UT), and Ted Cruz (TX).
Congress finally finalized a deal for an addition round of economic relief on Sunday, month after House Democrats passed an additional $3 trillion stimulus package back in May. But at various times both President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had resisted moving forward with a subsequent tranche of Covid stimulus. But as a third wave of the pandemic has brought record number of daily cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, the urgent need for additional relief gained more momentum after the election, though in a pared-down form from the Democrats’ spring package.
This coronavirus relief bill includes a one-time direct payment of $600 for every American and their dependent children, if they made less than $75,000 in 2019. The payment tapers off to zero for those who earned more than $99,000 last year. In addition, the bill provides $300 of supplemental weekly payments to augment state unemployment insurance staring next month and running through mid-March. The bill was shorn of any aid for states and localities and does not include a business Covid liability shield, both of which were dropped as part of the compromise.
