Pelosi says House will take up coronavirus relief bill on Friday
Washington — Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House will vote Friday on a massive relief package responding to the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, after the Senate unanimously passed the measure late Wednesday.
The bill, which carries a price tag north of $2 trillion, will likely be approved by a voice vote in the House, which doesn't require the presence of all members, many of whom are currently in their home states. Two House members have tested positive for coronavirus, and about two dozen others have said they are self-quarantining in case they have been exposed.
The relief measure passed with a vote of 96 to 0 in the Senate, after lengthy negotiations between Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and White House officials. The bill expands unemployment insurance, provides direct payments to most Americans and includes hundreds of billions of dollars in loans and grants to corporations, hospitals, state and local governments and more. An amendment proposed by three Republicans threatened to delay the bill's passage, but it failed along party lines.
Pelosi told reporters during her weekly press conference Thursday that she expected the bill to pass by a voice vote "with strong bipartisan support."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also voiced support for the bill on Thursday, and urged members of his conference to vote to approve it.
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