WASHINGTON – A vote on President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus bailout package could take place late next week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.
With the dismissal of former President Donald Trump over, Congress’s attention is drawn to approving Biden’s “American Rescue Plan,” which includes another round of $ 1,400 checks for eligible Americans and an increase in federal unemployment, among other provisions.
Democrats have decided to pass the package on to Congress using a rare tactic known as “budget reconciliation” that will allow them to avoid any Republican dissent and pass the bailout with a simple majority of votes.
Committees have been analyzing the details of the package, including a $ 15 minimum wage hike, before presenting it to the House floor.
“That will go to the Rules Committee because we will vote sometime late next week, it’s my hope,” Pelosi told reporters in his weekly report Thursday.
“I feel like we’ve been working the staff 24/7 for several weeks now to make sure we follow the planned schedule with the American rescue plan, the Biden plan,” he said.
The huge package is Biden’s first legislative struggle as president and it has been his administration’s singular approach that he refused to publicly analyze Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate.
Biden and members of his cabinet have urged lawmakers to “grow up” in another round of coronavirus relief to help the nation’s staggering economy after a year of mandatory closures.
But many Republicans, who tabled their own $ 600 billion counter-proposal, believe such a large stimulus bill is not necessary and would only add to the growing national debt.
Biden has also faced the dissent of several moderate members of the Democratic party, including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has called for more specific stimulus checks.