WASHINGTON | The Biden administration and Democrats remained firm on Tuesday on the scale of the economy safeguard plan to be rolled out, as the Senate proceeded with a technical vote paving the way for the text to be passed by a simple majority, more quickly so.
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“We are not going to dilute [le montant], procrastinate or delay “the adoption of the $ 1900 billion emergency plan presented by Joe Biden, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer told reporters on Tuesday evening.
President Joe Biden met on Monday with a group of 10 Republicans who, fearing the public debt could soar, had made an alternative proposal of $ 618 billion.
With an amount “this small, we would remain mired in the COVID crisis for years,” Chuck Schumer warned.
The elected representatives of the Senate proceeded Tuesday to a vote which could pave the way for the adoption of this plan by a simple majority, and not by 60 votes out of 100 as required by the usual procedure.
This would allow rapid adoption of the text, 50 senators being Democrats. Because in the event of a tie, it is up to Joe Biden’s vice-president, Kamala Harris, to decide.
After the rapid adoption of the gigantic $ 2,200 billion support plan by the two parties at the end of March, it was not until December that elected officials managed to agree on a new aid package. President Donald Trump then took a week to ratify the text.
The delay cost unemployed Americans $ 17.6 billion, who saw their aid suspended for several weeks, according to a study released Tuesday by the progressive creation exercise The Century Foundation.
The gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States is expected to return to its pre-pandemic level by mid-2021, but it will be necessary to wait until 2024 to return to pre-crisis employment levels, according to updated projections from the budget services Congress (CBO) released Monday.
The forecast “is further proof that we desperately need Congress to act on the support plan,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement on Tuesday.