Third Stimulus Check: Senate Passes Budget Plan to Progress Biden's $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill

President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package is one step closer to being approved. Early Friday morning, the Senate passed a budget resolution that paves Congress's way to approve the stimulus bill without GOP support. According to The Hill, the budget passed the Senate in a 50-50 vote split along party lines, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the deciding vote for the resolution to be approved. It marked her first tie-breaking vote since taking office on Jan. 20. The Senate evenly split between Democratic and Republican senators following Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff's senate wins in Georgia.

The Friday budget approval comes after the House of Representatives passed a budget resolution Wednesday. The chamber will have to vote again to pass the resolution, something that could happen later Friday. Approval of the resolution will allow Democrats to move forward with the budget reconciliation process, bypassing the 60-vote legislative filibuster in the Senate. Democrats would have to win 10 Republicans over in the evenly split Senate without using reconciliation, something that could prove difficult given GOP opposition to the stimulus proposal.

"We have moved forward. Many bipartisan amendments were adopted. ...This was a giant first step," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the vote. "We will keep working as hard as we can to pass this legislation through the House, through the Senate as we go through the reconciliation process and hopefully put it on the president's desk."

The Hill also reports that budget resolution authorizes a $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill and directs committees to write the legislation under reconciliation. Democrats will now have to craft and negotiate the coronavirus legislation. Democrats, led by the president, are hoping to pass the third round of stimulus payments totaling $1,400 per American, a $400 per week jobless benefit through September, state and local government aid, funding for schools and coronavirus testing, a $20 billion national Covid-19 vaccination program, and a $30 billion rent and utility assistance fund, among numerous other measures. It is possible some of these provisions could change. Given the Senate's tight margin, any one Democratic senator will have the leverage to shape the final coronavirus relief proposal or withhold the support needed to pass it without help from Republicans.

Republicans have been outspoken in their opposition to the $1.9 trillion proposals. A group of Republicans offered a counterproposal totaling just over $600 billion, met with little fanfare from their Democratic counterparts. Meanwhile, Biden reportedly told Senate Democratic caucus call he is "totally on board" with using reconciliation.