March 7th, 20210WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Biden said on Saturday that the U.S. Senate passage of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill means that $1,400 payments to most Americans will start to go out this month and the bill’s provisions will speed up manufacturing and distribution of vaccines.
Biden, speaking at the White House after the...
March 5th, 20210WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Senate voted on Thursday to take up President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill, but put off the start of a contentious debate until the full text of the 628-page bill is read aloud.
The party-line vote of 51-50, with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie, illustrated that...
March 2nd, 20210WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Democratic party has effectively abandoned a push to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour as part of President Biden’s coronavirus relief legislation, despite wide popularity of the measure among Americans.
Democratic leadership, including Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, said the...
December 23rd, 20200WASHINGTON D.C. — President Trump vetoed a bipartisan defense policy bill on Wednesday and raised the prospect that the United States could face a government shutdown during a pandemic, stirring new turmoil in Washington as he headed to Florida for Christmas.
Angry at his fellow Republicans in Congress, Trump sought to refashion...
December 22nd, 20200LANSING — As a $900 billion federal pandemic relief package now awaits likely approval from President Trump, Governor Whitmer’s administration passed measures to soften the blow of COVID’s economic impact on Michiganders.
The measures are similar to those passed during the first peak of cases in the state. This includes a...
December 21st, 20200WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Congress prepares to vote on a COVID-19 relief package late Monday, which includes direct payments to Americans struggling with the dire economic consequences of a pandemic that has killed more than 315,000 and infected more than 17.5 million.
After months of stalemates on negotiations on an urgently...
December 7th, 20200WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bipartisan effort in Congress to deliver a long-awaited infusion of COVID-19 relief to U.S. families and businesses remained hung up on Monday due to differences over aid to state and local governments and business liability protections.
A group of lawmakers from the Democratic-led House of Representatives and...
October 20th, 20200WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House and Democrats in the U.S. Congress moved closer to agreement on a new coronavirus relief package on Tuesday as President Trump said he was willing to accept a large aid bill despite opposition from his own Republican Party.
With just two weeks to go until the U.S. presidential election, Trump...
August 10th, 20200WASHINGTON (REUTERS) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday that the Trump administration and Congress could reach a coronavirus aid deal as soon as this week, but Democratic aides said the two sides have not spoken since talks collapsed last Friday.
With negotiations at a standstill, it was unclear whether...
August 4th, 20200WASHINGTON — White House negotiators vowed on Tuesday to work “around the clock” with congressional Democrats to try to reach a deal on coronavirus relief by the end of this week, as the pandemic takes a heavy toll on American life.
Following an afternoon meeting of the four main negotiators, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin...
August 2nd, 20200
WASHINGTON, D.C. (REUTERS) — The top Democrats in Congress are not close to a deal with the White House to pump more money into the U.S. economy to ease the coronavirus’ heavy toll, both sides said on Saturday, after an essential lifeline for millions of unemployed Americans expired.
“This was...