House Democrats plan to pass their $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill on Friday as lawmakers try to prevent unemployment lifelines from expiring next month.
„The American people strongly support this bill, and we are moving swiftly to see it enacted into law,“ House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said in a statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday night.
The package includes $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, a $400 per week jobless benefit supplement and an extension of programs making millions more Americans eligible for unemployment insurance. It also puts $20 billion into Covid-19 vaccinations, $50 billion into testing, and $350 billion into state, local and tribal government relief.
The plan as of now would hike the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. The provision may not survive in the final bill.
Democrats have moved to pass the legislation on their own through budget reconciliation, which requires a simple majority in a Senate divided 50-50 by party. They have argued they cannot wait to ease economic pain while they try to strike a deal with the GOP.
Republicans have questioned the need for nearly $2 trillion more in spending as they point to vaccinations putting the country on a path to a broader reopening.
„A lot within this bill is a waste or a wish list from the progressives,“ House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., contended during a CNBC „Squawk Box“ interview Wednesday morning.
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