Nancy Pelosi says House will forward $2 trillion voted bill to President Trump on Friday

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The U.S House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she is much confident the House will send a $2trn coronavirus economic aid package to Donald Trump on Friday to sign into law with a powerful bipartisan vote. It is noteworthy that the Senate approved the measure after several delays on Wednesday night, 96-0. The measure includes direct payments to some Americans, small business loans, and assistance for large companies to help the country during the COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdown. It also includes beefed-up unemployment insurance as tens of millions of Americans seek jobless benefits. The lower chamber is following its normal rules by giving its members 24 hours to review the measure before floor debate and a likely final vote on Friday.

House Speaker said she doesn’t foresee needing to call back all of the chambers over 400 members, saying she intends to use a voice vote process after some debate. Some conservative members say they are headed to Washington to object to any attempt by House Democrats to merely approve the aid bill via a unanimous consent motion, meaning if no member voiced discontent, the measure would simply pass. Both approaches are routinely used by the House. That means Friday could be a noisy one on the House floor, with some conservative Republicans expected to object to unemployment insurance provisions they claim would create incentives for some workers to get laid off and pull in more income from government benefits than their day jobs.

Democrats reject the premise that a substantial number of workers would resort to such shenanigans. Still, the California Democrat said more needs to be done in terms of testing and help for medical workers. She said, “We have to do more”. She was echoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in saying her chamber could be called back after Friday after a short notice to take up a future coronavirus aid package. The $2 trillion bill is the 3^rd and Trump administration officials and lawmakers already are talking about a phase-4 measure during the next month.