Na bijna negen maanden van drammen, trekken en wrikken hebben zowel het door Democraten gecontroleerde Huis van Afgevaardigden, als de door Republikeinen gedomineerde Senaat een pakket ter waarde van 900 miljard dollar goedgekeurd. Dat is net iets minder dan het BBP van Nederland. Het Congres stemde tegelijkertijd ook in met de overheidsbegroting tot september 2021. Daarmee is een shutdown afgewend.
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“Yes, there is more work to do and it will cost some money. But it will protect jobs and, most importantly, it will meet the needs of the American people,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said of the bill.
The measure marks Congress’ fifth delivery of relief money since the virus hit the U.S. earlier this year, killing more than 300,000 and shuttering much of the economy.
The total federal response to the pandemic now stands close to $4 trillion. Party leaders spent so long haggling over the final measure, however, that some economists warn it may arrive too late to halt a double-dip recession. It marks a far cry from the swift, bipartisan efforts this past spring, even as the case numbers and death toll have skyrocketed in the succeeding months.
“None of us think this legislation is perfect, but a big bipartisan majority of us recognize the incredible amount of good it will do when we send it to the president’s desk,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said. “The American people have waited long enough.”
