US House gives approval to Democrats' $2.2-trn coronavirus aid plan

The US House of Repre­sentatives on Thursday approved a $2.2 trillion Democratic plan to provide more economic relief from the coronavirus pandemic, as a bipartisan deal continued to elude House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House.

Objections from top Republicans are likely to doom the House Democrats' plan in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called the $2.2 trillion price tag “outlandish”, although Democ­rats have reduced the cost of their proposal by over a trillion dollars since May. The House vote was 214-207.

No Republican voted for the Democratic plan, although 18 Democrats voted no, many of them moderates from swing districts who have been urging Pelosi to bring a bipartisan proposal to the House floor. “Today’s package is another partisan exercise that will never become law,” said Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who voted no.

Republican President Donald Trump's negotiating team has suggested a $1.6 trillion response, and the White House on Thursday dismissed Democrats' $2.2 trillion plan as not serious.

Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have talked every day this week in an effort to negotiate a bipartisan aid package.