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The US Capitol in Washington
Photo: KEVIN LAMARQUE / REUTERS
The US Senate has approved the new economic stimulus package proposed by President Joe Biden to deal with the corona crisis.
It has a volume of 1.9 trillion dollars (around 1.6 trillion euros).
Since the Democrats only have a small majority in the Senate, the Republicans were able to push through compromises in the Congress Chamber - so the package of measures must now be negotiated again in the House of Representatives before Biden can sign the law.
Democrats have a majority in the Chamber of Parliament, so approval is considered quite certain.
After several days of deliberations and amendments, 50 Democrats voted for the package on Saturday, 49 Republicans against.
A Republican Senator was missing from the vote.
In the event of a stalemate, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris could have cast the decisive vote to push the package through.
Ten percent of the US economic output
The scope of the package of measures corresponds to almost ten percent of US economic output.
The Republicans reject such a large package.
Biden wants to use the package to stimulate the economy and create millions of new jobs.
Among other things, it provides direct payments for most taxpayers of $ 1,400.
Biden hopes to get the law into effect with his signature before mid-March.
Otherwise, the extended and increased unemployment benefits for millions of Americans would expire on March 14th.
Unemployment benefits, which are often very low in the US, are now to be increased by $ 300 a week through September.
The aid package also includes financial aid for corona tests, the vaccination campaign, school openings and additional support for the unemployed.
Congress only passed an aid package worth around $ 900 billion at the end of December.
After the worsening of the pandemic in the United States, Congress also passed economic stimulus packages worth almost three trillion dollars last spring.
The US government's mountain of debt has grown rapidly since then.
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hba / Reuters / dpa
