The House of Representatives on Friday evening passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill, the most expensive legislation approved by that body in history, that Democrats hailed as the unprecedented response needed to deal with the pandemic and its economic fallout.
The record-breaking bill narrowly passed by a 208-199 vote. Fourteen Democrats defied their party and voted “no,” while one Republican, Rep. Pete King of New York, broke with the GOP and voted “yes.”
“I’m thrilled,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after the bill’s passage. “I’m so proud of my members. They just did something so monumental for the American people — for their health, for their lives, for their livelihood, and for our democracy. We couldn’t be more thrilled.”
Unlike the first four coronavirus bills, which were passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, this 1,815-page package was drafted by Democrats alone and earned a veto threat from the White House and condemnation from the GOP as a “liberal wish list” that’s dead on arrival in the Senate.
Even Pelosi couldn’t get all her members on board. The most liberal members of the party panned the legislation as not going big enough, while moderate members in swing districts said they couldn’t support a bill that was too partisan and costly.
“At a time when our country is in real trouble, we should not be spending precious time on one-sided solutions that aren’t going anywhere,” said Rep. Joe Cunningham, D-S.C.
The 14 Democrats voting “no” were Cunningham and Reps. Cindy Axne of Iowa, Sharice Davids of Kansas, Abby Finkenauer of Iowa, Jared Golden of Maine, Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, Pramila Jayapal of Washington, Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania, Elaine Luria of Virginia, Ben McAdams of Utah, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico and Susan Wild of Pennsylvania. – READ MORE
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