US Senate passes $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief Bill

WASHINGTON: The evenly split US Senate has narrowly passed a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill after a marathon overnight session, with lawmakers voting along party lines.

After a session that lasted more than 24 hours, the upper chamber on Saturday approved the bill, called the 'American Rescue Plan', by a vote of 50 to 49, with Senator Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, missing the vote, reports Xinhua news agency.

The so-called "vote-a-rama", a long series of amendments votes, initially began on Friday morning, and was delayed for hours as Democrats struggled to convince Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia, a moderate, to support their provision on unemployment benefits.

After a lengthy negotiation, Manchin and Senate Democrats finally reached a deal, allowing the "vote-a-rama" to resume shortly before midnight.

A motion to adjourn until Saturday morning proposed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell narrowly failed.

The amended bill includes a $300 weekly federal unemployment benefit through September, instead of the $400 in the House-approved package.

It also added a provision to make the first $10,200 of unemployment payments tax-free for households with incomes of less than $150,000.

The $1.9-trillion measure, a major legislation for President Joe Biden, also includes a new round of up to $1,400 of direct payments for Americans, $350 billion for state and local governments, support for hard-hit small businesses, as well as funding to directly combat the pandemic.

Senators voted through the night and until midday on a series of amendments, most of which by Republicans, who called the bill partisan and too expensive, and proposed to slash spending.

Democrats, who highlighted the urgency to fight the pandemic and support businesses and families, voted down dozens of Republican amendments. (IANS)

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