The House approved a Senate budget resolution on Friday, kicking off the process of passing President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package.
Top House Democrats ahead of the vote met with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and “discussed how this legislation meets the needs of the American people,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.
The House will begin writing the bill next week, when the Senate is set to be consumed by former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, which is scheduled to begin on Feb. 9. The bill is expected to mirror Biden’s proposal, even including his provision to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
The budget measure includes language that will allow Senate Democrats to pass a COVID-19 aid bill despite objections from GOP lawmakers by lowering the required votes for passage from 60 to 51.
The Senate, which is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, passed the budget resolution early this morning along party lines. Harris cast the tiebreaking vote.
Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, called the budget resolution and coronavirus relief legislation “a liberal special interest wish list, much of which has nothing to do with COVID relief.”
Republicans wanted a smaller measure targeted at eliminating the virus through treatments, vaccine development, and vaccine distribution. They said the Democratic plan dedicates little funding for that purpose.
A huge chunk of the funding in the Biden bill, $350 billion, would be provided to state and local governments to make up for lost tax revenue, which Republicans largely oppose.
“Less than 10% of the money that is appropriated in this piece of legislation actually goes to vaccination and shots,” said Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican.
