The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to pass the Senate’s version of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the final hurdle for getting much-needed COVID-19 relief to millions of Americans devastated by the pandemic.
The bill now heads to President Biden’s desk to be signed, his top priority now his first major legislative victory of his nascent administration.
“Help is here,” President Biden wrote on Twitter shortly after the vote.
“This legislation is about giving the backbone of this nation – the essential workers, the working people who built this country, the people who keep this country going – a fighting chance,” President Biden said in a statement, celebrating that the bill will give 85% of American households $1,400 checks, expand unemployment insurance, and cut child poverty in half.
“I want to thank all the members who voted for it, especially Speaker Pelosi, the finest and most capable speaker in the history of our nation. Once again, she has led into law an historic piece of legislation that addresses a major crisis and lifts up millions of Americans,” Biden concluded. “On Friday, I look forward to signing the American Rescue Plan into law at the White House – a people’s law at the people’s house.
The final vote was 220-211, without a single Republican supporting the bill. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine was the only Democrat to vote against the measure. Golden was one of two Democrats to vote no on the American rescue Plan the first time it passed the House.
”While the Senate made modest changes to the legislation, some of those changes undermined parts of the bill I do support, and others were insufficient to address my concerns with the overall size and scope of the bill,” Rep. Golden said in a statement, adding that his vote “should not be construed as an unwillingness to support my constituents and the economy through this pandemic.”
Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR), the other Democrat to vote against the bill the first time around, voted in favor of the measure on Wednesday.
The bill passed through the Senate on Saturday in a 50-49 vote – along party lines – after voting through the night on a mountain of amendments.
The bill will provide $1,400 direct stimulus checks to most Americans and an extension of federal unemployment benefits, as well as funding for states and local governments, and money for COVID-19 vaccines and testing.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., celebrate after signing the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, during an enrollment ceremony on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
At an enrollment ceremony following the vote to officially send the bill to the White House, Speaker Pelosi, who President Biden called “the finest and most capable speaker in the history of our nation” in his statement, said Wednesday is “a momentous day in the history of our country, because we have passed historic, consequential, and transformative legislation.”
“This is the most consequential legislation that many of us will ever be a party to,” Pelosi continued. “Who knows what the future may bring, but nonetheless on this day we celebrate because we are honoring a promise made by our President and as we join with him in promising that help is on the way.”
Pelosi also heaped praise on President Biden.
“President Biden’s vision and his determination were so apparent to the American people and the reason why this legislation enjoys this support of 75% of the American people in a strong bipartisan way across the country,” she said. “We thank him for his leadership and also for his contribution to the substance of the legislation as well as his signature when that comes.”
Majority Leader Schumer’s message was simple: “Help is on the way.”
“What do we say to America? Help is on the way. Help is on the way. You’ll receive $1,400 checks by the end of March,” Schumer said.
“This is a wonderful day for America,” Schumer added. “This is one of the most consequential pieces of legislation we have passed in decades, and you know what we can show America, that we can get things done to make their lives better, and we will continue to do that through the rest of this session. Help is on the way.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., poses after signing the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill during an enrollment ceremony on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Biden will sign the bill on Friday afternoon at the White House, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. He will also tour the country to detail the plan to the American people directly.
Psaki said Monday that Treasury Secretary Yellen was “laser” focused on making sure the $1,400 checks included in the bill will get out “as quickly as possible.”
When President Trump signed the last relief bill in December, the $600 checks in the package began rolling out two days later, and most were sent to Americans over the following two weeks.
White House Covid-19 senior adviser Andy Slavitt told MSNBC that the bill brings a “sigh of relief” to the country.
“When this gets to the President’s desk and it is signed, it is really going to be monumental in terms of allowing Americans to breathe a big sigh of relief,” Slavitt said. “Not that Covid-19 is over, but we will now have the resources to support Americans through the next stages.”
It’s not just White House officials and Congress celebrating the news – American Airlines told its “13,000 colleagues who received Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notices last month, those are happily canceled – you can tear them up” in a letter from Chairman and CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom.
“Congress has saved thousands of airline jobs, preserved the livelihoods of our hard-working team members and helped position the industry to play a central role in the nation’s recovery from COVID-19,” the company said in a statement.
Democrats and President Biden have also touted the bill as a revolutionary measure to combatting poverty in America. A study from the nonpartisan Urban Institute and Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center found that the poorest 20% of Americans would receive a 20% income increase.
The bill will also cut child poverty in half, according to the president, by expanding a child tax credit program to more families and increasing the tax credit. Families with children would receive, on average, a tax cut of over $6,000, according to the study.
“The Biden American Rescue Plan is about the children,” Speaker Pelosi said before the vote. “How do you say no to lifting 50% of improvised children in America out of poverty?”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a leading progressive voice in the Democratic caucus and the Senate Budget Chairman, called the bill “the most significant piece of legislation to benefit working people in the modern history of this country.”
Republicans opposed the American Rescue Plan, lambasting it as wasteful spending.
“The Senate has never spent $2 trillion in a more haphazard way,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), adding of Democrats: “Their top priority wasn’t pandemic relief. It was their Washington wish list.”
Despite Republican opposition, polling shows that the American Rescue Plan enjoys widespread bipartisan support.
According to a recent Pew Research survey, 70% of Americans support the package, including 41% of Republicans. The bill has immense backing from Democrats and those who lean Democratic, with 94% support.
Congress aimed to get the bill to President Biden’s desk ahead of a March 14 deadline when federal unemployment benefits were set to expire. Those benefits will be extended through Sept. 6 at payments of $300 per week – on top of state benefits – with tax breaks on top of the payments.
During the debate period in the Senate last week, the compromise between Democrats over unemployment benefits threatened to derail the deal, but were resolved before the vote passed. The House’s original version of the relief bill provided $400 in weekly benefits through August.
Democratic leaders and the White House also agreed to restrict eligibility for the $1,400 stimulus checks, phasing out payments for people with higher-incomes after pushback for more “targeted” spending.
Originally, individuals earning up to $75,000 – and couples up to $150,000 – would get $1,400 checks per person. The version the House approved over the weekend would gradually phase down those amounts and disappear completely for individuals making $100,000 and couples earning $200,000. But under the new agreement, those checks would end for individuals making $80,000 and couples earning $160,000.
