Pelosi hopes House can pass COVID-19 relief within two weeks
Emerging from a Friday meeting with President Biden, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she is hopeful the House will send a sweeping COVID-19 relief bill to the Senate within two weeks. Biden and congressional Democrats are under enormous pressure to quickly pass the president’s nearly $2 trillion coronavirus package as the death toll continues to climb and millions of Americans remain unemployed.
“Hopefully in a two-week period of time we’ll send something over to the Senate,” Pelosi said outside the White House, flanked by other party leaders and the House committee chairmen responsible for writing the legislation. The Speaker said COVID-19 legislation would be passed “long before” March 15, when enhanced unemployment insurance and other crisis-related programs and initiatives are set to expire. Pelosi’s letter to Democrats on Friday morning said she wants to pass a relief package through her chamber by the end of February.
The House is expected to pass a budget resolution — amended early Friday morning by the Senate — later in the afternoon. That resolution paves the way for Senate Democrats to avoid the 60-vote filibuster and pass the COVID-19 package with a simple majority, without any help from Republican ...
Biden has already provided the framework: His $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan includes additional $1,400 stimulus checks for most Americans; hundreds of billions for more vaccines, testing and aid to reopen schools; $350 billion for state and local governments; and hiking the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/537553-pelosi-hopes-house-can-pass-covid-relief-within-two-weeks