After months of partisan conflict, the United States Congress has approved a nearly $900bn emergency spending bill to tackle to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 relief bill provides $284bn for loans to small business to keep workers employed and $166bn for $600 one-time payments to most US citizens among other measures.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the US Congress, called the bill “a first step” towards giving incoming President-elect Joe Biden the resources needed to “crush the virus”.
The COVID-19 economic relief bill passed by the US Congress includes funding for vaccine distribution, short term unemployment benefits, aid for the US airline industry, and help for urban and poor communities hit hardest by the virus [File: Micah Green/Bloomberg] (Bloomberg)The House approved the measure by a vote of 359-53 and the Senate voted 91-7 to send the bill to President Donald Trump who is expected to sign it.
House subpoenas 2 health officials over COVID-19 meddling accusations
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The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis issued subpoenas Monday to Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar for allegedly meddling with federal health agencies to downplay the pandemic. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
Dec. 21 (UPI) Democrats in the U.S. House issued subpoenas Monday to two top White House health officials, saying that Trump administration appointees attempted to alter or block at least 13 scientific reports related to the coronavirus.
Democrat Majority Whip James Clyburn said in a statement that the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis demanded answers from the Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield, calling efforts to interfere with scientific work far more extensi
Clyburn added that Trump is absolutely responsible for what has happened here. In fact, that s why Joe Biden got seven million more votes than he got, because the American people know full well that he was lacking in leadership. You don t lead by every step. You lead by example. He has never set an example. And that s why we are where we are today. You know that.
Later in the interview, Clyburn attempted to deflect the question of whether Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., should step down from the House Intelligence Committee amid questions about his relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.
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