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House Passes $2 Trillion Emergency Relief Bill by Voice Vote After Hostile Debate

Cortney O'Brien
Cortney O'Brien  |  March 27, 2020 1:42 PM

UPDATE: President Trump is signing the CARES Act into law.

“Americans can see that President Trump is out front and leading the country in the battle against the coronavirus. With his signing of the CARES Act, Americans will get the relief they need as they fight through this crisis. President Trump is both protecting the health and safety of our citizens and safeguarding our economy at the same time,” Brad Parscale, Trump 2020 campaign manager, said in a statement.

ORIGINAL POST

The CARES Act, the $2 trillion coronavirus emergency relief bill that serves as Phase Three of Congress's coronavirus relief efforts, has passed the House of Representatives. It is the largest stimulus package in U.S. history and aims to provide funding for hospitals and relief for small businesses. The successful vote comes after hours of cantankerous debate, in which one unhinged Democratic representative was ruled "out of order" on the House floor. 

Once the measure finally passed, the entire House erupted - in a positive way.

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The monumental vote was emphasized by the following photo. It's not often we see scenes like this.

Part of that hostile debate we mentioned earlier had to do with Rep. Thomas Massie's (R-KY) threat that he would demand a roll call vote. Several lawmakers had to hop on red eyes Thursday night to come back to D.C. just in case and sarcastically thanked their colleague for it. Even President Trump shamed Massie for his grandstanding on Twitter. But Massie was blocked after Steny Hoyer demonstrated that they had a quorum to pass the bill.

Still, Massie complained after the vote that leaders Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy didn't even give him a minute to speak in the 4-hour debate. He called it a "cover up."

But both sides of the aisle are cheering the successful bill, which will now send targeted relief to the American worker.

The debate in the Senate over the CARES Act had been just as nasty, thanks in large part to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's laundry list of liberal demands. But in the end they too managed to pass it in flying colors. The vote was unanimous, 96-0.