House set to vote Wednesday on $1.9 trillion stimulus bill

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to pass the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill on Wednesday without Republican support.

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The bill will be taken up Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. ET after the House passed a key procedural vote Tuesday evening that limited debate on the measure to two hours.

The vote on the measure, 219-210, fell mostly along party lines.

“It’s a remarkable, historic, transformative piece of legislation which goes a very long way to crushing the virus and solving our economic crisis,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said Tuesday.

According to Democratic House leaders, there are enough votes to pass the bill that would then be sent to President Joe Biden’s desk for his signature.

If every House Republican votes against the bill, as they did when it initially passed last week, Democrats can lose only four votes and still pass the bill.

Some have expressed concern that progressive Democrats who opposed the removal of the proposed increase to the federal minimum wage could oppose the bill and hold out for other measures that were changed in the Senate’s version of the bill.

On Monday, however, progressive House members voiced support for the bill.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Monday that while those in her caucus were disappointed with some aspects of the bill, she believed they would support it come Wednesday’s vote.

“I’ve had lots of conversations with our members who all feel frustrated that minimum wage was not included,” she said. But, she noted, “everybody understands this is a big progressive win,” and given the 50-50 split of the Senate, “the House is always going to be more progressive than the Senate.”

Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, said he was “110% confident” that his party had the votes to pass the bill even if Republicans voted against its final passage.

No Republican in Congress has voted for the $1.9 trillion bill.

“We know for sure that it includes provisions that are not targeted, they’re not temporary, they’re not related to COVID and it didn’t have to be this way,” said House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming.

“We could have had a bill that was a fraction of the cost of this one, it could have gotten bipartisan approval and support.”

Cox Media Group