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This is VOA news. Reporting by remote, I'm David Byrd. President Joe Biden is hailing House passage of his $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. We get more from AP's Sagar Meghani. The House has signed off on a $1.9 trillion package, sending it to the White House. "Everything in the American Rescue Plan addresses a real need," including boosting the vaccination and testing programs and helping struggling Americans weather the pandemic's economic destruction. While the bill had nearly unanimous Democratic support, no Republicans voted for it, with Texas's Jodey Arrington among others blasting it as less of a relief bill and more of a Democratic wish list of things unrelated to the pandemic. "It's a $2 trillion blue-state boondoggle and a Trojan horse for their reckless partisan policies." It'll become law once the president signs on Friday. Sagar Meghani, Washington.
The U.S. government's budget deficit has hit an all-time high. We get more from AP's Ben Thomas. The Treasury Department reports the federal deficit hit 1.05 trillion for the first five months of the budget year - that's October through February. The government spending to cope with the coronavirus pandemic surged at a pace far above an increase in tax revenue. The deficit was 68 percent larger than the same period last year and easily surpassed the previous five-month high of 652 billion that was set in 2010 when the government was spending to try to lift the country out of the grave recession. The Congressional Budget Office has projected the deficit for the full budget year will reach 2.3 trillion. But that does not include the 1.9 trillion COVID relief measure just passed by Congress. Ben Thomas, Washington.
A mixed day on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrials and the S&P closing higher but the NASDAQ off slightly. This is VOA news.
