US House of Representatives approves $2.2 trillion COVID-19 aid package

US House of Representatives, on October 1, approved a $2.2 trillion Democratic recovery plan to provide more economic relief to the population hit by the coronavirus pandemic. No republican voted for the bill citing the “outlandish”  price of the package. Additionally, 18 democrats also opposed the bill, many of them moderates from the swing states.

To face challenge in Senate

“Today’s package is another partisan exercise that will never become law,” Representative Abigail Spanberger, one of the Democrats who voted no, said. The bill is now set for the Senate where experts warn that injection from republicans could doom the plan. While Democrats have reduced the plan by a trillion dollars, many republicans still remain opposed to the extremely high price tag.

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Meanwhile, the Senate hs sent President Trump a bill to fund the government through Dec. 11, averting the possibility of a government shutdown when the new fiscal year starts. The temporary extension will set the stage for a lame-duck session of Congress later this year, where the agenda will be largely determined by the outcome of the presidential election, AP reported. 

The stopgap spending bill is required because the GOP-controlled Senate has not acted on any of the 12 annual spending bills that fund the 30% of the government's budget that is passed by Congress each year. If Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins the White House in November, it's likely that another stopgap measure would fund the government into next year and that the next administration and Congress would deal with the leftover business.

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(With inputs from Associated Press)

Image credits: AP