After two weeks of stalemate and days of frenetic negotiations, the Senate approved a nearly $500 billion coronavirus aid bill on Tuesday afternoon with the House set for passage later this week, Politico reported.
The agreement centers around providing $380 billion for small businesses and also includes $75 billion for hospitals and $25 billion for disease-testing. It comes after a brutal conflict between party leaders over how to pass a massive bill with the Senate in recess.
A pair of conservative Republicans senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky, railed against the process on Tuesday afternoon but allowed the bill to go through without objecting.
The House is expected to take up and pass the legislation on Thursday with overwhelming bipartisan support, per senior House aides.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced the accord just an hour before the Senate tried to pass the agreement and rapped Democrats for blocking a previous proposal to give money to small businesses.
“I am just sorry that it took my colleagues in Democratic leadership 12 days to accept the inevitable,” McConnell said. “The American people are counting on Congress to put aside reflexive partisanship and work across the aisle to help our nation through this pandemic.”
Schumer responded that the legislation “is significantly better and broader” than McConnell’s bill by catering to businesses without access to large financial institutions and providing more health care money than Republicans initially sought, Politico adds.
“Leader McConnell tried to steamroll us,” Schumer said in a press conference after the vote. He and other Democrats have accused McConnell of trying to unilaterally bypass them on the small business legislation while ignoring their demands.
The legislation totals $484 billion and delivers funding to small businesses, hospitals, and for testing. The quick Senate passage on Tuesday comes after Democrats and the Trump administration struggled to clinch the agreement over the weekend and failed to deliver it during Monday’s Senate session.
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