US Senate Passes 1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – The United States Senate has approved one of the most extensive stimulus packages in modern U.S. history.

The $1.9 trillion plan passed by 50 votes to 49 on Saturday, with no Republicans voting in favor. It will now head to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to be approved.

The bill includes $400 billion in one-time payments of $1,400 to most Americans and $300 a week in extended jobless benefits for the 9.5 million people thrown out of work in the crisis. It also provides $350 billion in aid to state and local governments that have seen the pandemic blow a hole in their budgets.

President Joe Biden has championed the relief plan as a way to help struggling citizens. But his Democratic Party compromised on some issues ahead of the vote.

There were long discussions over federal unemployment benefits, which Democrats agreed to lower from $400 to $300 a week. It will be extended until September 6.

Several Republicans left the chamber immediately after the vote, while Senator Bernie Sanders fist-bumped Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, reporters said.

The fight is not over as the bill needs to return to the House of Representatives, which approved a slightly different version a week earlier.

However, there was a standoff within even the Democratic party over the jobless benefits, besides an all-night effort by Republicans to amend the bill that polls show is popular with voters.

Commentators said the tensions illustrated the difficulty that Biden would face in pushing other policies through a Congress that Democrats control by the narrowest of majorities.

Biden says the bill is a priority in a nation where authorities say more than 520,000 Americans were killed in the coronavirus pandemic.

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