Senate passes Biden’s $1.9trillion relief bill

US president hails ‘historic’ victory after phone call to conservative Democrat senator ends epic session

THE US Senate passed Joe Biden’s $1.9trillion coronavirus relief package, giving him the biggest victory of his presidency so far.

Senators sat through the night on Friday and eventually passed Mr Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” yesterday afternoon. The final vote came after a marathon legislative process called a “vote-a-rama”, in which any senator could attempt to add an amendment.

Republicans, and some Democrats, sought to do so, but many were voted down. During the all-night sitting, several elderly senators appeared to doze off at their desks.

The bill was held up for around 12 hours by a single Democrat – conservative-leaning Joe Manchin – until a deal was agreed after a personal phone call from Mr Biden. The new bill will deliver direct payments of up to $1,400 (£1,000) for most Americans, $350billion to help cities and states, $130billion for schools, and many billions for a national vaccine programme and to help citizens with food and rent.

Mr Biden said: “I promised the American people that help was on the way. Today, I can say we’ve taken one more giant step forward in delivering on that promise.

“This plan puts us on a path to beating the virus. This plan is historic.”

Mr Biden added: “There are brighter days ahead, there really are.”

He said the bill was “desperately needed”, it would cut child poverty in half, and America would “remain the leading economy in the world”.

Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leader in the Senate, said: “It’s been a long day, a long night, a long year, but a new day has come.”

Bernie Sanders, the Left-wing Senator who twice ran for president, said: “This is the most significant piece of legislation to benefit working families in the modern history of this country.”

Total spending in the bill is nearly one-tenth the size of the entire US economy. It means Washington will have provided a total of about $6 trillion in emergency assistance over the past year in the battle against the pandemic.

Republicans had opposed Mr Biden’s proposal as too expensive, and complained he had not fulfilled his promise to work with all sides as president.

The bill will need to be passed by the House of Representatives. Mr Biden is expected to sign it into law within days.

As the vote-a-rama process began, new employment figures showed an unexpectedly high surge in new jobs, with the US adding 379,000 in February.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, said Democrats had “inherited a tide that was already turning” and urged opposition to the bill. But the biggest hurdle for Mr Biden to overcome proved to be Joe Manchin, the Senate’s most conservative Democrat.

Mr Manchin objected to a provision for an extra $400 in weekly unemployment benefits until August. The standoff between Mr Manchin and his own party lasted 12 hours until a deal was agreed, under which there will be $300 in extra weekly emergency unemployment benefits until October.