Senate approves the $900 billion coronavirus relief package, sending it to Trump's desk for his signature

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — Photo by Nicholas Kamm/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The Republican-held Senate approved the $900 billion federal rescue package on Monday evening.
Senate Republicans approved the legislation on Monday, sending it to Trump's desk for his signature.
House Democrats approved the legislation earlier in the evening.
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The Republican-held Senate approved the $900 billion federal rescue package on Monday evening, clearing the way for the legislation to reach President Donald Trump's desk for his expected signature.

The House of Representatives approved the 5,593-page legislation earlier on Monday night. The Senate approved it with a vote margin of 91 to 7 shortly before the midnight deadline for government funding to dry up.

If signed into law, the emergency spending package will funnel hundreds of billions of dollars to unemployed Americans and ailing businesses. It also directs federal funding to transportation agencies, public health departments, and vaccine distribution as well.

The legislation is nearly twice the amount of aid that Republicans wanted to spend heading into the 2020 election. They unveiled a $500 billion economic aid plan that Democrats blocked twice in September and October, assailing it as insufficient. Many Republicans were reluctant to support Democratic demands for additional spending because they did not want to increase the national debt.

But the economy is showing new signs of strain recently, and many economists and Federal Reserve officials have urged lawmakers to approve more federal spending. Unemployment claims have increased for the last three weeks, and many federal benefit programs are set to expire at the end without further congressional action.

Nearly 14 million people are threatened with the loss of all their unemployment aid if Congress failed to step in.

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