President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill passed the House Wednesday without a single Republican vote, CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk reports.
Biden is expected to sign the bill Friday, and the $1,400 stimulus checks included in the bill are likely to be sent out shortly after.
The package also includes a boost to jobless benefits, expansion of the child tax credit, additional funding for vaccines, rent assistance and $350 billion in relief to state and local governments.
The legislation was the first major initiative of Biden’s presidency. His administration and congressional Democrats said the country needed another large stimulus plan to ensure a strong recovery and curb existing economic pain from the pandemic.
Republicans said the plan was too large and put money into unrelated Democratic priorities. No GOP lawmakers supported it in the Senate or House.
Biden says he will announce ‘next phase’ of the U.S. Covid response Thursday
President Joe Biden said he will announce the “next phase” of the U.S. Covid-19 response during his primetime address to Americans on Thursday.
The Biden administration has been working to ramp up the supply of Covid-19 vaccines and get the majority of Americans as quickly as possible.
Earlier Wednesday, the Biden administration announced that it plans to buy 100 million additional doses of J&J’s Covid-19 vaccine. The deal would double the nation’s supply of the vaccine.
Reference: CNBC
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