Biden signs $1.9 trillion relief bill into law

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has signed a $1.9 trillion economic relief bill that looks to help Americans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic into law. The bill includes $1,400 payments, an extension of jobless benefits, and a child tax credit that is expect to lift

millions out of poverty. President Biden said the relief package will rebuild “the backbone of this country”.

The spending bill, one of the largest in U.S. history, passed Congress without a single Republican supporter.

President Biden is due to give a primetime address later on Thursday to tout the bill’s provisions. He and other Democrats will also hold a signing ceremony at the White House on Friday. This sixth COVID-19 relief bill is a major legislative win for the President.

The package has been broadly popular among Americans. A March Pew Research Center poll found that 70% of US adults surveyed expressed support for the bill, including 41% of Republicans. Unemployment skyrocketed over the last year, with a current rate of 6.2%, according to the US Labor Department.

Biden had originally planned the bill signing for Friday, but it was pushed up in his schedule “because Congress enroled the bill more quickly than we anticipated,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said in a tweet.

The President had originally expected to sign the ambitiously named “American Recovery Plan Act” at the White House on Friday. Instead the final step in enacting the president’s first significant piece of legislation was moved up to Thursday afternoon.