The American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion dollar COVID-19 recovery bill, has been passed by the House in a 219-202 vote, with two Democrats crossing party lines to vote with Republicans (none of whom voted to pass the bill). The bill is President Joe Biden’s first major legislation initiative, with it primarily including funding for businesses, individuals, and government agencies that have struggled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the largest elements of the bill is the $1,400 stimulus checks going to Americans who make less than $75,000 dollars a year, and the smaller checks going to Americans making between $75,000 and $100,000. Meanwhile, another central element of the bill is the $20 billion for COVID-19 vaccine distribution and $50 billion to improve testing and contact tracing. While these elements of the bill have not been subject to large-scale outrage from Republicans, other elements of the bill have been, like funding that is does not have to do with COVID-19 relief.

According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a non-partisan group that aims to inform Americans about federal budget issues, around 15% of the funding from the bill is not going to COVID-19 relief, with it instead being used for things like foreign aid and infrastructure projects within the US. In respect to the bill being passed with these unrelated additions, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-KY.) said that the “partisan vote reflects a deliberately partisan process and a missed opportunity to meet Americans’ needs.” According to McCarthy, this unnecessary spending should not be in the bill, as it only serves to harm the American people. When asked whether she believed the plan was necessary considering this so-called excessive spending, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.) said that the “[t]he time for decisive action is long overdue,” and that “President Biden’s American Rescue Plan is that decisive action.” She and other Democrats aim to get this bill passed as soon as possible, with some hoping that it will be signed by President Biden as early as this week. However, this timeline is not certain, as there will likely be changes made to the bill in the Senate, where Democrats and Republicans are split 50-50. Despite the fact that Vice President Kamala Harris has the power to cast the deciding vote in the case of a tie, Democrats are still worried that they may not have the necessary support within their party if some changes are not made. For example, Democrats took out the $15 dollar minimum wage that Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) continues to fight for in an attempt to make the bill more likely to pass the Senate.

Meanwhile, despite Republican concern that the $1.9 trillion bill is already too big as is, 11 Democrats have requested that President Biden include recurring checks and expanded unemployment benefits as part of another recovery package that the President said he hopes to pass later in the year. In a letter to the President, the Senators wrote: “This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. Families should not be at the mercy of constantly-shifting legislative timelines and ad hoc solutions.” The group of Senators includes Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-ORE.), Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT.), Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown D-OH.), Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, (D-MASS.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J), Sen. Michael Bennet (D-COLO.), Sen. Tammy Baldwin, (D-WIS.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Alex Padilla, (D-CALIF.), and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CONN.) At the moment, though, it does not appear that their request will be granted, as Democrats fear that they will not have enough support for this inclusion, with it being likely that it will not be included at all in the final bill.