House Passes $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill, Biden Will Sign It Into Law On Friday

Plus: Pressure Mounts On Biden White House To Call Border Surge A 'Crisis'

TOPLINE

The House of Representatives passed President Biden’s sweeping $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan in a 220-211 vote on Wednesday, sending the wildly popular rescue package past its final hurdle in Congress and to Biden’s desk for signature on Friday. 

KEY FACTS

The package includes billions of dollars worth of direct aid for struggling Americans, including a third round of stimulus checks in the amount of $1,400, another tranche of enhanced federal unemployment benefits of $300 per week through September 6, a major expansion of the child tax credit, tax relief for canceled student loan debt and billions of dollars for rental and food assistance.

The legislation will also authorize hundreds of billions of dollars in federal spending to combat the coronavirus and offset its economic toll through vaccine distribution and testing and aid for hospitals, state and local governments, schools and small businesses.

Democrats are celebrating the bill as one of the most consequential anti-poverty efforts in recent history, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called it “a remarkable, historic, transformative piece of legislation” during a Tuesday press briefing. 

Republicans largely oppose the package and say it is too expensive given the pace of economic recovery.

Under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in the Senate and Pelosi in the House, Democrats used a special legislative process called budget reconciliation to move the bill through Congress over the objections of the Republican Party.

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