The US House of Representatives on Friday approved a $2.2 trillion aid package — the largest in American history — to help people and businesses cope with the economic downturn inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The massive bill, which was passed by the Republican-controlled Senate late on Wednesday and also will provide hospitals with urgently needed medical supplies, now goes to Republican President Donald Trump, who is expected to promptly sign it into law.
“Our nation faces an economic and health emergency of historic proportions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the worst pandemic in over 100 years,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at the close of a three-hour debate on the House floor.
Democrats and Republicans in the Democratic-led House approved the package on a voice vote, turning back a procedural challenge from Republican Representative Thomas Massie, who had sought to force a formal, recorded vote.
Massie, an independent-minded Republican who has repeatedly defied party leaders, wrote on Twitter that he thought the bill contained too much extraneous spending and gave too much power to the Federal Reserve. His fellow lawmakers overruled his request.
On Twitter, Trump called Massie a “third rate Grandstander” and said he should be thrown out of the Republican Party.
“He just wants the publicity. He can’t stop it, only delay,” Trump wrote as the House began debating.
Democratic and Republican leaders asked members to return to Washington to head off Massie’s gambit. Lawmakers from as far away as California were present for the debate. The session was held under special rules to limit the spread of the disease among members, who used hand sanitiser.
