In a unanimous vote late Wednesday, the Senate passed a more than $2 trillion relief package aimed at blunting the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. It was the largest such legislation in United States history, and hailed by leaders in both parties, even as they acknowledged the sweeping legislation alone would not be enough to ward off the hardship and looming recession—perhaps even depression—brought on by the pandemic. “Nobody thinks legislation can end this,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the floor of the upper chamber Wednesday night. “We cannot outlaw this virus. And no economic policy could fully end the hardship so long as public health requires that we put so much of our nation’s commerce on ice.” “None of us can know when this plague will pass,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer added. “The only thing we know for sure is that we must summon the same spirit that saw previous generations through America’s darkest hours.”

The vote on the bipartisan bill—which provides financial relief to American workers and companies, as well as funding for local governments and hospitals on the front lines of the fight against the virus—came after days of at-times acrimonious negotiations between Republicans and Democrats, who had objected to an initial draft of the legislation they said had put big corporations over workers and handed Donald Trump a “slush fund” with little oversight in place. Concern remained, even after Democrats secured provisions to have the corporate rescue overseen by an inspector general and congressional panel, that the fund did not have sufficient accountability. “This is a survival bill,” former Labor Secretary Robert Reich remarked Thursday. “But I see no reason why this money is being tied to a $500 billion corporate slush fund.” Moreover, the sweeping, 880-page legislation is peppered with provisions benefitting specific industries and interest groups—and opportunities for businesses owned by Trump and his family members to receive assistance, despite language touted by Democrats that excludes companies owned by elected officials and department heads from receiving Treasury loans and investments.

Still, the end result has been generally seen as more favorable to everyday Americans and small- and medium-sized businesses than the $830 billion bailout of 2009 during the recession. As the Washington Post noted Thursday, only about a quarter of this current package goes to big corporations, while low- and middle-class Americans will receive at least $1,200 checks, small businesses will be eligible for emergency grants and loans, and hospitals will get a boost as they strain to handle a massive influx of COVID-19 patients amid quickly depleting resources. What’s more, an eleventh-hour demand from Republicans Lindsey Graham, Tim Scott, Rick Scott, and Ben Sasse seeking to cap the bill’s expanded unemployment benefits at 100% of salaries—out of concern that the lack of such a limit could discourage working—was defeated Wednesday after gumming up the process for several hours.

Even so, it’s not yet clear how quickly the money could be dispersed, and the massive legislation is still unlikely to head off the unprecedented economic crisis wrought by the public health emergency. “By any measure, this is a huge stimulus package,” James McCann, senior global economist at Aberdeen Standard Investments, told the Post. “One thing that it cannot stop is the recession that is coming.”

Now, the bill heads to the Democratically-controlled House, where members are expected to consider the legislation Friday morning in hopes of passing it quickly via a voice vote—or, in the event of an objection, a proxy vote that would keep as many representatives off the floor as possible to prevent the spread of the virus on Capitol Hill; several lawmakers are already in quarantine, including four Republican senators who were unable to vote on the legislation Wednesday night. If it passes the House, which it is expected to do, it would head to the president, who has signaled support for the measure. “Congratulations AMERICA!” Trump tweeted after the 96-0 Senate vote.

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