On Monday night, Congress finally passed a second relief bill in response to the catastrophic Covid-19 pandemic. The $900 billion package is the first new aid many Americans have seen since March, and the direct payouts — $600 for those making under $75,000, plus a boost of $300 a week to unemployment payments — are half that provided in the spring. Yet even that paltry package was hard-won, as a number of Senate Republicans had initially opposed a second round of relief payments.
On Monday night, Congress finally passed a second relief bill in response to the catastrophic Covid-19 pandemic. The $900 billion package is the first new aid many Americans have seen since March, and the direct payouts — $600 for those making under $75,000, plus a boost of $300 a week to unemployment payments — are half that provided in the spring. Yet even that paltry package was hard-won, as a number of Senate Republicans had initially opposed a second round of relief payments.
