The House of Representatives is voting today on a $2.2 trillion emergency relief bill to address the economic crisis caused by the pandemic. The bill will generate payments to most Americans and includes protections for workers, but it is also a massive bailout for a number of industries and corporations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the measure would receive “strong bipartisan support,” but not unanimous consent as it did in the Senate earlier this week. Republican Congressmember Thomas Massie of Kentucky is considering a procedural move that could delay passage to the weekend.
This vote comes as a record-shattering 3.28 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as the coronavirus crisis idled huge sections of the U.S. economy. After headlines, we’ll get an update on the relief package from Congressmember Ilhan Omar and author Matt Stoller, who argues the coronavirus relief bill “could turn into a corporate coup if we aren’t careful.”