US House passes $1.9tn Covid relief plan in major legislative victory for Biden

Final tally was 220 to 211, with one Democrat and all Republicans voting against the measure

A deeply divided Congress passed a landmark $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill on Wednesday, delivering the first major legislative victory of Joe Biden’s presidency and a sweeping promise to raise millions of Americans out of poverty.

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Biden’s $1.9tn Covid relief bill marks an end to four decades of Reaganism | Analysis

Analysis: Reagan’s presidency undermined faith in government. The stimulus package helps restore FDR’s legacy

Joe Biden reflected recently on the last time a Democratic administration had to rescue an economy left in tatters by a Republican president.

“The economists told us we literally saved America from a depression,” Biden told the House Democratic Caucus last week. “But we didn’t adequately explain what we had done. Barack was so modest; he didn’t want to take, as he said, a ‘victory lap’. I kept saying, ‘Tell people what we did.’ He said, ‘We don’t have time. I’m not going to take a victory lap.’ And we paid a price for it, ironically, for that humility.”

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House passes Biden’s $1.9tn Covid relief bill projected to slash US poverty in 2021 – live

The House has passed the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, delivering Joe Biden his first major legislative victory as president.

The final vote was 220 to 211, and it fell almost exactly along party lines. Only one Democrat, Jared Golden of Maine, voted against the bill. Applause broke out among Democrats on the House floor after the bill passed.

The House voted 220-211 to concur in the Senate amendment to H.R. 1319 - American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

The House now has enough votes to pass the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, although the vote remains open.

As of now, the vote stands at 220 to 211, meaning more than half of House members have voted for the passage of the relief bill.

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$1,400 stimulus checks and vaccine funds: what the Covid relief bill contains

The bill passed by the House includes sweeping measures to try to tackle deep-rooted racial, gender and class inequalities in the US

The US House on Wednesday passed the huge $1.9tn coronavirus relief and economic stimulus package that represents Joe Biden’s first major legislative victory.

Related: Biden poised for first major legislative victory with House vote on $1.9tn Covid relief – live

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Can red wolves come back from the brink of extinction again?

Once a US conservation success story, numbers in the wild have plummeted. Now a court has given hope for their survival

There are perhaps no more than 10 red wolves left in the wild, and they are all in just one place: North Carolina.

It is an astonishing statistic for a species once hailed as undergoing the most successful reintroduction programme in the US, providing the blueprint for Yellowstone national park’s much-lauded grey wolf rewilding project.

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House will vote Wednesday morning on $1.9tn Covid relief bill – live

Progressive congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman said she will vote for the coronavirus relief bill, despite serious concerns about the changes made by the Senate.

“While I will continue to pressure my party to live up to its banner as the party of the people, I cannot ignore the immediate need for relief,” Watson Coleman said in a statement.

pic.twitter.com/VODEIHERDU

This trend is outrageous:

Eliminating $15/hr
Reducing thresholds for payments (cutting off ~400k New Jerseyans)
Cuts to weekly payments

What are we doing here? I'm frankly disgusted with some of my colleagues and question whether I can support this bill.

1/ https://t.co/r9dqZpuCbU

Okay, now it’s official: the House will hold its final vote on the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package tomorrow, not today.

House majority leader Steny Hoyer said moments ago that the House will take up the bill at 9 am ET tomorrow morning, per C-SPAN.

Hoyer this morning in his weekly pen and pad announced the potential timing of House vote on final $1.9T COVID-19 relief bill: “Our expectation is, maybe late this afternoon we would adopt the rule...We will then tomorrow at 9am consider the American Rescue Plan and pass that.”

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House will vote Wednesday morning on $1.9tn Covid relief bill – as it happened

By Jessica Goodheart for Capital and Main:

Sara Fearrington, a North Carolina waitress, joined the Fight for $15 campaign two years ago. A server at a Durham Waffle House, her take-home pay fluctuates between $350 and $450 a week, leaving her struggling to pay bills every month. She voted for Joe Biden, who had pledged to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. It was the first time Fearrington, who is 44, had ever voted in a presidential election.

Related: Senate minimum wage battle could play out in midterm elections

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Biden pledges to combat sexual assault in US military – video

Joe Biden pledged to combat sexual assault in the US military as he announced the nomination of two female officers, Gen Jacqueline Van Ovost and Lt Gen Laura Richardson, to become four-star commanders. The president, who spoke on International Women's Day, said: "Sexual assault is abhorrent and wrong at any time. And in our military, so much of unit cohesion is built on trusting your fellow service members to have your back – there's nothing less than a threat to our national security"

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Cuomo suffers major blow as top New York Democrats say governor must go

Senate leader and assembly speaker weigh in but Cuomo says quitting over sexual harassment claims would be ‘anti-democratic’

Andrew Cuomo suffered a major blow on Sunday in his attempt to stay as governor of New York in the face of allegations of sexual harassment and workplace bullying and a scandal over nursing home deaths under Covid. The majority leader of the state senate and the speaker of the assembly, two of the most powerful Democrats in New York, said it was time for Cuomo to go.

Related: The New York attorney general holding Trump and Cuomo accountable

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The Guardian view on women and the pandemic: what happened to building back better? | Editorial

Around the world, coronavirus has both highlighted and worsened existing inequalities

One year into the pandemic, women have little cause to celebrate International Women’s Day tomorrow, and less energy to battle for change. Men are more likely to die from Covid-19. But women have suffered the greatest economic and social blows. They have taken the brunt of increased caregiving, have been more likely to lose their jobs and have seen a sharp rise in domestic abuse.

In the UK, women did two-thirds of the extra childcare in the first lockdown, and were more likely to be furloughed. In the US, every one of the 140,000 jobs lost in December belonged to a woman: they saw 156,000 jobs disappear, while men gained 16,000. But white women actually made gains, while black and Latina women – disproportionately in jobs that offer no sick pay and little flexibility – lost out. Race, wealth, disability and migration status have all determined who is hit hardest. Previous experience suggests that the effects of health crises can be long-lasting: in Sierra Leone, over a year after Ebola broke out, 63% of men had returned to work but only 17% of women.

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Trump reportedly told Republican party to stop using his name for fundraising

Party bodies have used former president’s name while fundraising for Republicans who voted for his impeachment

Donald Trump has told the Republican National Committee and other party bodies to stop using his name and likeness in fundraising efforts, it was reported on Saturday.

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Biden hails ‘giant step’ as Senate passes $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill

  • Republican opposition holds through marathon ‘vote-a-rama’
  • Speaker Pelosi has said measure should be law by 14 March

Joe Biden hailed “one more giant step forward on delivering on that promise that help is on the way”, after Democrats took a critical step towards a first major legislative victory since assuming control of Congress and the White House, with a party-line vote in the Senate to approve a $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill.

Related: Biden urged to 'go big' on New Deal-like economic plan – but can he bridge left-right gap?

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Sanders’ minimum-wage effort looks doomed as Covid relief votes go through night

Biden’s $1.9tn relief package struggles through Senate but majority leaders vows passage ‘however long it takes’

A fiery speech and last-ditch effort by Bernie Sanders to secure a place for a federal minimum wage hike in the $1.9tn coronavirus relief package appeared as good as doomed on Friday, following a day that saw the flagship legislation hit grinding delays in the Senate.

Senate leaders and moderate Democratic senator Joe Manchin struck a deal late on Friday over emergency jobless benefits, breaking a nine-hour logjam.

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Mail-in voting did not raise turnout or boost Democrats, study finds

Experts say ‘effect on turnout and on partisan outcomes is very muted’ and undermines Trump claim that mail-in voting cost him

Mail-in voting did not significantly increase turnout nor did it benefit Democrats in the 2020 election, a new study has found, undermining the talking point, advanced by Donald Trump and others, that mail-in ballots cost him the election.

Related: Fight to vote: This is how Georgia Republicans are attacking democracy

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Senate debates as Republicans attempt to derail $1.9tn Covid relief bill – live

White House press secretary Jen Psaki rejected the notion that Joe Biden was “snubbing” lawmakers by delaying his first address to a joint session of Congress.

“It’s not a snubbing happening here,” Psaki said. “We are in the middle of a global pandemic.”

"It's not a snubbing," press sec. Psaki says when asked about Pres. Biden addressing Congress.

"We are in the middle of a global pandemic...We intend on the president delivering a joint session... but we don't have a date for that." pic.twitter.com/R89HWMj6Jp

White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about whether Joe Biden would soon speak to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Psaki said the two leaders would speak “at some point,” but she did not give a clear sense of when that might happen.

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‘It’s not fair!’ Capitol suspect who put feet on Pelosi’s desk has court outburst

Richard Barnett, charged over January attack, complains after judge rules he must remain in jail until next court date in May

Of all the pictures that were taken during the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January, one of the most famous is of a man sitting on a chair with one foot on the desk of the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

That man, Richard Barnett, was told by a judge on Thursday that he is to remain in jail until his next court date in May.

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Joe Biden ‘neanderthal’ comment a reflection of frustration, says White House – video

White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended Joe Biden’s comments comparing Republican governors to Nearnderthals for lifting mask mandates in Mississippi and Texas. Biden’s remarks were ‘a reflection of his frustration’ about Americans not following public health guidance during the pandemic, Psaki said.

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US House passes George Floyd Justice in Policing Act – video

The US House of Representatives passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, the most ambitious police reform effort in decades. The legislation changes would ban chokeholds and 'qualified immunity' for law enforcement and create national standards for policing in a bid to bolster accountability. California congresswoman Karen Bass, who authored the bill, cited the beating of Rodney King in 1991 and Floyd's death as the catalyst for the ambitious reform while House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said the bill was 'legislation which will fundamentally transform the culture'

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Scramble on to replace Neera Tanden after nomination met perfect storm

Joe Biden’s nominee for budget director faced Republican opposition over old tweets but had also clashed with progressives

Neera Tanden’s decision to withdraw from consideration to serve as Joe Biden’s budget director marks the first major loss for the still young Biden administration, and sets off a scramble between various political factions to push through a new nominee.

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