House Moving Toward Final Approval of Covid-19 Bill

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:22 pm

The House of Representatives is moving toward final approval of the Covid-19 stimulus package in what would mark President Joe Biden‘s first legislative victory since taking office. The House had a two-hour morning debate earlier today ahead of a final vote on the bill.

“Congressional leaders do not expect a replay of the prolonged fights around earlier votes, which stretched past midnight in the House Rules Committee and went all night in the Senate in a session that ended on Saturday afternoon,” according to Reuters, which noted that Republicans could still “delay proceedings” later today by asking for a motion to send the bill back to a committee or moving to adjourn the House.

Republicans have argued that the bill, which provides qualifying Americans with $1,400 stimulus checks, extends unemployment benefits, and provides aid to state and local governments, is too costly at $1.9 trillion. The Biden administration has argued that such a large package is necessary to give the economy the boost that it needs; economic forecasters concur with the White House‘s assessment.

The nation has continued to contend with the financial consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 527,000 Americans since it began last spring. The economic boost, coupled with a ramped-up vaccination effort––more than 93 million vaccinations have been administered as of this writing––should go a long way to aiding the country’s financial recovery.