Money is on the way.
U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign his top legislative priority, the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, CNN and Reuters reported Thursday, citing White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 220-211 to approve one of the biggest stimulus plans in U.S. history. The White House is moving "full speed ahead" on the implementation of the bill, Psaki said.
Biden hopes to sign the bill on Friday after Congress formally sends it to the White House, which can take days for large legislations. It will mark his first major legislative achievement of his presidency.
The relief package includes billions of dollars' worth of direct aid, including a $1,400 check to many Americans, a $300 weekly jobless aid supplement, and a one-year expansion of the child tax credit that will provide periodic payments for many U.S. families.
The bill also allots around $20 billion into COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution, along with approximately $50 billion into clinical trials and contact tracing, in addition to giving almost $30 billion in aid to restaurants and more than $120 billion to K-12 education.
The bill navigated through the House despite objections from progressive Democrats who insisted too many concessions were made to more moderate Democrats when the legislation was green lit by the Senate on Saturday.
One Democrat voted against the bill while all Republicans contested it. The House had earlier passed the bill but had to conduct a second vote to reconcile it with the Senate version.
"For weeks now, an overwhelming number of Americans, Democrats, Republicans and Independents, have made it clear they support the American Rescue Plan," Forbes quoted Biden as saying in a statement.
According to U.S. vice Ppresident Kamala Harris, the President promised that "help is on the way, and he has been determined to keep that promise."
