In case you missed it, on May 16, the House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act, a stimulus plan proposed by House Democrats. The act now has to go through several rounds of legislation before it can be officially enacted. However, the Senate reportedly won’t be considering the measure until early June, a fact former Vice President Joe Biden has since criticized.
On Saturday, Biden took to Twitter to comment on the fact that the Senate will not be looking into a second stimulus package until after their Memorial Day recess, even though the coronavirus pandemic remains a grave issue for those in the nation. In his message, the former Vice President noted that it was “unbelievable” that Senate Republicans are delaying relief for Americans who are struggling amidst this crisis, which he called “the worst economic crisis in our lifetime.” He ended his message by urging voters that they need to take back the Senate in November when the general election set to take place. Biden’s message also came alongside a link to a Vox article about this delay.
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We’re in the midst of the worst economic crisis in our lifetime, and Senate Republicans continue to delay relief for the American people saying, “I don’t see the need right now.” Unbelievable.
We’ve got to take back the Senate this November. https://t.co/ij73z7Oq9P
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 23, 2020
House Democrats’ HEROES Act passed in the House of Representatives on May 16. Their proposal would grant eligible Americans $1,200 per person and up to $6,000 per household. Just like the CARES Act, the $2 trillion stimulus package that the White House and Congress agreed to in late March, the HEROES Act would also provide for financial assistance to those who claim children as dependents. Under the HEROES Act, individuals would receive $1,200 per child for up to three children (under the CARES Act, individuals received $500 per child that they claim as a dependent).
As Biden shared on Twitter, there won’t be a vote on the HEROES Act in the Senate until June at the earliest. This news comes as numerous Republican lawmakers have voiced their disapproval with this new proposal. The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, wrote on Twitter that he blames Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for some of the additional measures featured in the proposal. He even wrote that the HEROES Act “still reads like the Speaker of the House pasted together random ideas from her most liberal members and slapped the word ‘coronavirus’ on top of it.”
