Senate passes budget bill paving the way for majority approval of Biden's $1.9 trillion aid package

Vice President Kamala Harris breaks a tie — (Image credit: Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)

The Senate approved a budget resolution early Friday morning, after a 15-hour "vote-a-rama" slog, unlocking the budget reconciliation process Democrats are likely to use to pass President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. The vote was 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the party-line tie at just after 5:30 a.m. The House is expected to act on the Senate's version of the bill within a day.

After the House passes the amended budget resolution, 25 committees in the House and Senate will start actually writing the legislation. Biden and Harris are meeting with congressional Democratic leaders and committee chairs Friday morning to discuss what comes next, but Democrats are hoping to get the legislation to Biden's desk before mid-March, when unemployment benefits expire.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.