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READ: $2 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill

Senate leaders have unanimously passed a historic $2 trillion deal to provide economic relief for Americans, businesses and the health care industry in response to the growing coronavirus pandemic.

There was some drama on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, as a a small group of Republican senators objected at the last minute to certain unemployment provisions. But there was wide support for the bill across both parties as well as from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and President Trump.

The legislation expands on a Republican proposal issued last week called the CARES Act — the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

The comprehensive aid package includes direct payments to Americans, an expansion of unemployment insurance and billions in aid to large and small businesses.

Earlier in the day, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said no policy will fully end the economic hardship faced by the country as long as public health concerns require that much of the country stay closed.

"This isn't even a stimulus package," he said. "It is emergency relief. Emergency relief. That's what this is."

You can read the bill yourself here.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Barbara Sprunt is a producer on NPR's Washington desk, where she reports and produces breaking news and feature political content. She formerly produced the NPR Politics Podcast and got her start in radio at as an intern on NPR's Weekend All Things Considered and Tell Me More with Michel Martin. She is an alumnus of the Paul Miller Reporting Fellowship at the National Press Foundation. She is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., and a Pennsylvania native.