House passes $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill in close vote

(Image credit: OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

last updated 16 May 2020

The House on Friday passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package by a vote of 208-199. The Democrat-crafted HEROES Act will now head to the Republican majority Senate, where — along with the White House — it is expected to face opposition.

The bill contains, among other things, nearly $1 trillion in aid to state and local governments, extending unemployment benefits expansion until January 2021, and another round of $1,200 to individual Americans, including immigrants. The measure removes the previous coronavirus relief bill's requirement of a Social Security number to access the payments.

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was one of the lawmakers who had issues with the package, but ultimately voted yes. "I think there's actual room for expansion in the Senate negotiation, not just contraction," she said. "And honestly, some of the things that Republicans don't like I don't like either. So I think there's even more room there." Read more at NBC News and The Wall Street Journal.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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