US House passes $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, Senate next

Washington: The US House passed an enormous $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package early Saturday, hailed by Democrats as a critical step in funneling new funding towards vaccinations, overburdened local governments, and millions of families devastated by the pandemic.

Four days after the COVID-19 death toll surpassed 500,000 in the United State, the sprawling measure backed by President Joe Biden and described by Democrats as a moral imperative now heads to the Senate for consideration next week.

The bill, which cleared the House on a party-line vote of 219 to 212, includes a provision to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, but due to a Senate ruling the language will be stripped out of the final version.