A view of the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 20.
After months of Washington gridlock, Congress is set to act on a $900 billion pandemic relief package, finally delivering long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths, according to an Associated Press report.
The relief package, agreed to on Sunday (Dec. 20) and expected to draw votes in Congress today (Dec. 21), would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.
House and Senate leaders planned votes for today but the final measure was still being finalized. Lawmakers were eager to leave Washington and close out a tumultuous year.
It came together Sunday after months of battling and posturing and a post-election negotiating dynamic that reined in a number of Democratic demands as the end of the congressional session neared. President-elect Joe Biden was eager for a deal to deliver long-awaited help to suffering people and a boost to the economy, even though it was less than half the size that Democrats wanted this fall.
Biden praised the bipartisan spirit that produced the measure, which he called “just the beginning.”
“This is a model for the challenging work ahead for our nation,” Biden said Sunday in a statement.
“There will be another major rescue package for the American people,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in announcing the agreement for the relief bill. “It is packed with targeted policies to help struggling Americans who have already waited too long.”
Democrats acknowledged it wasn’t as robust a relief package as they initially sought — or, they say, the country needs. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed more to come once President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
“It is a first step,” she said. “We have to do more.”
