Applause broke out in the Senate on Saturday afternoon as senators voted 50-49 to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion (£1.3 trillion) Covid relief package.
Not one Republican senator voted for the sweeping package, which provides direct payments to the majority of Americans and funding for states to distribute Covid-19 vaccines and ramp up testing for the coronavirus.
But Democrats remained unified in their support for the bill after the White House brokered a deal with centrists like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) that made relief payments and further economic aid more targeted than previous plans passed under former President Donald Trump.
Still, the mood was upbeat on Saturday as lawmakers cheered the passage of the latest relief package following hours of long debates and a Senate vote-a-rama that lasted through the night.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D—NY) said Mr Biden called him after the bill passed and said: “I knew we’d get this done.”
Praising the efforts of his Democratic colleagues, the senator said: “Unity, unity, unity. That’s how we passed this bill.”
The bill, titled the American Rescue Plan, featured funding for small restaurants to reopen of up to $25 billion, along with $13 billion in nutrition programs.
The legislation also extends a massive $350 billion in direct support for state and local governments, which have seen depleting budgets amid the pandemic.
Unemployment benefits and other financial assistance for those impacted by the Covid-19 crisis were also featured in the bill, which Mr Schumer said he expected the president to sign by the deadline of March 14.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
