The bill passed the house this morning. President Trump, unlike the House has wasted no time in getting it to his desk and signed.
Forbes reports:
President Trump signed the largest stimulus bill in American history on Friday, a sweeping $2 trillion aid package that provides a boost to nearly all parts of the American economy, hours after the House pushed through the legislation and two days after the Senate green lighted the bill in a unanimous 96-0 vote.
- The bill’s passage is a rare show of bipartisanship for the often gridlocked Congress, with both parties making key compromises that pushed the bill over the finish line.
- Democrats put aside their opposition to handing out tax cuts to big businesses while Republicans abandoned their disdain for big government, backing cash payments to most U.S. adults.
- The aid comes as the U.S. economy reels from the impact of the coronavirus, with more than 3 million Americans applying for unemployment last week, a new record.
- Key parts of the $2 trillion aid package include $377 billion in federally guaranteed loans to small businesses, a $500 billion government lending program, expanded unemployment payments, direct cash payments, and aid for hospitals.
- President Trump signed the legislation at the White House Friday afternoon in front of five Republican leaders but zero Democrats, saying “I want to thank Democrats and Republicans for coming together and putting America first.”
Surprising fact: The cost of the stimulus bill is hundreds of billions of dollars more than Congress provides for the entire U.S. budget, not including social safety net programs, as the New York Times notes.
