White House Approves $2 Trillion Stimulus Package

Early Wednesday morning, Senate leaders and the White House struck a deal for a wide-ranging $2 trillion stimulus package. The bill includes roughly double the spending that many had predicted for the third relief package signed into legislation since the World Health Organization declared the novel Coronavirus outbreak a pandemic two weeks ago, and it is the largest stimulus package signed into law in American history.

The bill, which arrived after nearly a week of contentious negotiations between Senate Democrats, Republicans and the White House, touches nearly every part of the U.S. economy, including direct payments to low- and middle-class citizens, months of unemployment payments for workers who have been laid off, loans and grants for small businesses and $500 billion in funds for financial assistance to businesses and local municipalities.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell announced the deal at 1:30 a.m. Eastern time, calling it a “wartime level of investment into our nation.”

The Senate is expected to pass the bill Wednesday afternoon, but it will still need to be voted on in the House, which is currently on recess. To enact the legislation as quickly as possible, some lawmakers have proposed ratifying the deal by unanimous consent, which would bypass the need for a House vote.

“What I’m saying is we want to do it as soon as possible,” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told CNN. “The best way to do that as soon as possible is to have agreement on the legislation. We’re doing U.C. to make the biggest possible difference in the shortest period of time.”

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