Hoyer: House will vote on COVID-19 relief bill Friday

The House will vote on President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package on Friday, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Tuesday night.

“The House will vote on Friday on @POTUS’ #AmericanRescuePlan to end this pandemic and deliver urgently needed relief to America’s families and small businesses. The American people strongly support this bill, and we are moving swiftly to see it enacted into law,” Hoyer tweeted.  

The House will vote on Friday on @POTUS’ #AmericanRescuePlan to end this pandemic and deliver urgently needed relief to America’s families and small businesses. The American people strongly support this bill, and we are moving swiftly to see it enacted into law.

— Steny (Wear a Mask) Hoyer (@LeaderHoyer) February 23, 2021

The tweet comes as Democrats seek to move fast on coronavirus relief before a number of federal programs expire on March 14.

The House Budget Committee passed the bill on Monday on a party-line vote, and the Rules Committee is scheduled to consider the measure on Friday at 9:30 a.m. The bill would then head to the House floor for a vote.

The Committee on Rules will meet Friday, February 26 at 9:30 AM via Cisco Webex on the following measure:

H.R. __ – American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 pic.twitter.com/Ga0aLVqcAM

— House Committee on Rules (@RulesDemocrats) February 23, 2021

The bill then goes to the Senate, where Democrats can’t afford to lose a single vote in their caucus, which is currently evenly split 50-50.

There have already been some potential snags. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) have indicated that they oppose the minimum wage increase to $15 an hour that’s included in the bill.

In addition to the minimum wage increase, the bill includes $1,400 stimulus checks, and extension of unemployment benefits, and $129 billion for schools.