House Democrats passed a massive $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 bill on Wednesday with the goal of having it on President Joe Biden’s desk by the end of the week, just days before major federal unemployment benefits for many workers hit 14 March ending.
With a vote of 220-211 – with no Republicans voting in favor – the Democrats handed Biden a crucial first legislative victory. The White House said he would sign the measure Friday.
“For weeks, an overwhelming percentage of Americans – Democrats, Independents and Republicans – have made it clear that they support the US bailout. Today, with the last passage in the House of Representatives, their voices have been heard,” Biden said in a statement in which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is praised, who spoke just before the vote in the House.
“Today we have to make a decision with huge, enormous consequences. A decision that will make a difference for millions of Americans, by saving lives and livelihoods. And with all decisions, it is a decision that we will have to answer for,” ” she said. “We will give the US bailout a resounding and hopefully bipartisan voice to reflect the bipartisan support it has in the country.”
“And we will immediately start to work to deliver the lifesaving tools that will come out of this bill once it is passed and signed. If we join President Biden in the pledge, in his promise that aid is finally on the way. “For the kids, I insist on a ‘yes’ vote,” she said.
A Democrat joined the Republicans by voting against the measure. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine had expressed concerns about the cost and scope of the legislation.
The final vote was postponed when GOP representative Majorie Taylor Greene forced a vote on a motion to be adjourned, which was soundly rejected.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y., told reporters on Tuesday that he was “110% sure” that his party had the votes to approve the plan without any GOP backing.
Republicans disagreed with the price tag.
“It’s a real tragedy if you look at that package, we know the results of that package will be middle class tax increases, we are sure it contains provisions that are not targeted, they are not temporary, they are unrelated to COVID, and it didn’t have to be, ” said House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney on Tuesday.
“We could have gotten a bill that was a fraction of the cost of this one that could have gotten dual approval and support, but the speaker decided to go in a different direction. We will be saddled with a burden, a spending burden, and a tax burden. which is truly indefensible from the perspective of what it actually accomplished, ”Cheney said.
“I feel sad for them that they are so oblivious to meeting the needs of the American people and unaware of the support that this bill has among Republicans across the country,” Pelosi said Monday.
The legislation originally passed the House of Representatives in late February, but the House had to re-approve the bill after changes were made in the Senate.
The bill would send $ 1,400 incentive checks to individuals making $ 75,000 or less and to couples making up to $ 150,000. The Senate version of the bill reduced eligibility for incentive checks. The payments would gradually disappear for those making more than $ 80,000. That means that many who were eligible for previous rounds of emergency payments will not receive one this time.
Democratic leaders were also forced to cut weekly unemployment benefits to $ 300 from $ 400 with the federal boost through Sept. 6. The first $ 10,200 in income for those unemployed Americans who earned less than $ 150,000 would be tax-free.
The bill also includes a child tax credit that gives families $ 3,000 per child per year.
The legislation also sends $ 350 billion to state, local and tribal governments, $ 50 billion for contacts tracking, $ 16 billion for vaccine distribution, $ 130 billion for K-12 education, rental funds and mortgage assistance, support for restaurants and bars, funding for nutrition programs and more.
The White House has previously said that Americans who qualify for the stimulus checks should see payments on their accounts before the end of the month.
On Thursday, Biden will deliver his first primetime speech “commemorating the one-year anniversary of the closure of COVID-19,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced at a briefing Monday.
He will discuss the many sacrifices the American people have made over the past year and the severe losses that communities and families have suffered. The president will look ahead and emphasize the role Americans will play in defeating the virus and returning it to normal. making the country., ‘said Psaki.