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Top Democrats see $900B COVID relief package as just the beginning
By Edmund DeMarche
Published December 21, 2020
Shortly after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that top Capitol Hill negotiators agreed to a $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus package, key Democrats vowed more economic intervention under the Biden administration.
The Associated Press reported that if the deal is finalized, it will be the largest spending measure, which combines the COVID-19 relief with a $1.4 trillion government-wide funding plan that the New York Times referred to as a $2.3 trillion behemoth."
Congress had also approved a 24-hour extension of government funding on Sunday evening.
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Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said, "This is a good bill. Tonight is a good night. But it is not the end of the story, it is not the end of the job. Anyone who thinks this bill is enough does not know what’s going on in America."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also vowed that more will be done under a Joe Biden presidency. She called the bill a "first step."
The text of the bill was not immediately available. The Wall Street Journal reported that it is expected to provide $600 checks to many Americans and a $300 increase to federal unemployment benefits. The bill was less than half the size that Democrats wanted this fall.
"At long last we have a bipartisan breakthrough the country has needed," McConnell said, according to the Journal. "Now we need to promptly finalize text, avoid any last-minute obstacles and cooperate to move this legislation through both chambers."
President-elect Joe Biden also called the bill "just the beginning."
"This is a model for the challenging work ahead for our nation," he said in a statement.
House leaders informed lawmakers that they would vote on the legislation on Monday, and the Senate was likely to vote on Monday, too.
Ben Williamson, a White House spokesman, told the Journal, "We look forward to Congress sending a bill to his desk imminently for signature."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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