The U.S. House of Representatives voted 214-207 to pass a $2.2 trillion pandemic stimulus package Thursday even as the Trump administration and Democrats struggle to agree on a relief settlement.
The bill puts extra pressure on the White House and Republicans to come up with a compromise on new crisis ratification before Congress is seen to take a timeout until the middle of next month in the run-up to the national election.
The bill has been criticized by Republicans and isn't projected to become law. Politicians voted along party lines for the passage of a redrafted coronavirus relief plan after growing calls for an immediate bailout.
Thursday's pandemic plan is a pared-down version of the $3.4 trillion Heroes Act, which the House gave the nod to in May but wasn't acted upon in the Senate by the Republicans who resisted a higher budget for additional aid. Eighteen Democrats opposed the bill as legislators in competitive districts become more circumspect of the deadlock over emergency support.
The White House's counterproposal is $1.6 trillion, Kayleigh McEnany, White House Press Secretary, said Thursday. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was back at the negotiating table with a proposal he said was similar to the $1.5 trillion stimulus package a bipartisan group of House members unveiled in mid-September.
The standoff in negotiations comes as a good chunk of the benefits that were previously green-lit by Congress have already been depleted. The $600 government stimulus to jobless benefits dried out in July, a loan deal for small businesses expired and airline companies warned of retrenchments as their federal payroll aid to the tune of billions expired Wednesday.
According to Republican California House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, "today's so-called compromise deal is not realistic or responsible." It is the "Pelosi Pipedream 2.0 filled with the same reckless and ridiculous ideas as the first bill," Forbes quoted McCarthy as saying.
"This isn't just a money and language debate," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in the House before voting. "It's a values debate."
