Biden’s $1.9-trillion COVID-19 package clears procedural vote in US House

The US House of Representatives voted on Tuesday, March 9, to advance President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, clearing the way for the measure to be considered on Wednesday, when it is expected to pass.

The House voted 219–210 along party lines to advance the measure to a final debate and vote. No Republicans voted yes, and just one Democrat voted no. The bill’s expected approval on Wednesday will enable the Democratic president to sign the legislation into law later this week.

Passage of the massive package, one of the biggest US anti-poverty measures since the 1960s, would give Biden and the Democrats who control Congress a major legislative victory less than two months into his presidency.

The House will consider the legislation starting at 9 am (1400 GMT) on Wednesday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters. The bill was sent over to the House on Tuesday morning from the Senate.

Preliminary debate began on Tuesday afternoon.

“Today we are on the doorstep of history. We are about to send the most sweeping and progressive economic investment in modern times to the president of the United States,” Representative Jim McGovern, a Democrat and chairman of the House Rules Committee, said on the House floor.

“This bill attacks inequality and poverty in ways we haven’t seen in a generation,” McGovern said, noting it included an expansion of the Affordable Care Act healthcare program, popularly known as Obamacare, as well as measures to cut child poverty in half.

But Republican Representative Michael Burgess said the aid was not well targeted, providing $1,400 checks to anyone making $75,000 a year or less, “including those who may not have lost their jobs or experienced reduced employment” because of the coronavirus. He said the bill provided $125 billion to schools “even if they remain closed.”

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During the debate, multiple Republican members repeatedly asked unanimous consent to call up another measure, the Reopen Schools Act, but were ruled out of order.