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Following two weeks of negotiations and deadlock, Congress and the White House finalized a deal on a nearly $500 billion relief package for small businesses struggling to meet payroll and funding increases for hospitals and coronavirus testing, the Associated Press reported.
The $483 billion in coronavirus aid passed the Senate on Tuesday afternoon. The House is expected to vote Thursday on the package, which includes:
- $331 billion to boost a small-business payroll loan program
- $75 billion for hospitals
- $25 billion for coronavirus testing
“The Senate is continuing to stand by the American people,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in spite of opposition voiced by fellow conservative Senators Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rand Paul, R-Ky., who ultimately voted to pass the measure.
Lee objected to the Senate meeting to vote on the bill in a “pro forma” session, when the legislative chambers are technically in session, though no business is supposed to be voted on, according to Lee’s strict interpretation of the Constitution. Of course, Republicans have themselves used such sessions to play politics in the past, the District Policy Group reported in its own demystification of the pro forma process.
Meanwhile in the House, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the chamber will consider the Senate’s measure as well as a rule change to allow proxy voting on future business during the pandemic.
The landmark reform to mandatory in-person voting, which would be a first for Congress, faces Republican opposition from in the House.
“I don’t support it at all,” said Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., one of a handful of Republicans who showed up in-person Tuesday to protest proxy votes. “Congress should be in session.”
If the House approves the measure this week, the small business-focused package is shaping up to be the second-largest economic relief bill offered by lawmakers during the pandemic, behind the nearly $6 trillion stimulus approved in March.
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