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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leads the vote to approve a landmark $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, at the Capitol in Washington, March 10, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A US Congress riven along party lines approved a landmark $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Wednesday, as President Joe Biden and Democrats claimed a triumph on a bill that marshals the government’s spending might against twin pandemic and economic crises that have upended a nation.
The House gave final congressional approval to the sweeping package by a near party line 220-211 vote precisely seven weeks after Biden entered the White House and four days after the Senate passed the bill. Republicans in both chambers opposed the bill unanimously, characterizing it as bloated, crammed with liberal policies and heedless of signs the crises are easing.