Congress Passes U.S. Coronavirus Aid Bill
Al Grabo for the New York Times
We ran the numbers: There are 2986 news articles covering this topic. 40% (1187) are left leaning, 37% (1115) center, 23% (684) right leaning.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate passed a more than $100 billion coronavirus aid package and President Donald Trump signed it into law. While left-leaning articles highlight that the Senate continues to meet despite public health concerns regarding the coronavirus, right-leaning articles highlight that Republicans criticized the legislation as having shortcomings.
A left-leaning article by The New York Times highlights that despite public health officials’ plea to employers to keep workers at home, the Senate has continued to meet, largely because they are rushing to pass legislation to provide relief to workers and businesses. However, according to officials such as Senator John Borrasso, lawmakers are impatient to act quickly and decisively, resulting in hundreds of lawmakers, aides, police officers, and support staff to continue working in the Capitol.
Reuters published a centrist article giving an overview of the major elements of the legislation that passed the House of Representatives . The legislation includes free coronavirus testing, paid sick leave and emergency leave for some workers, enhanced unemployment benefits, food assistance, and increased funding for Medicaid.
A right-leaning article by Fox News reports that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., criticized the legislation as having “real shortcomings,” but urged members to “gag and vote for it anyway” to show bipartisan cooperation during the pandemic. The article also notes that the Senate and White House have been moving quickly to draft a third round of stimulus legislation that could infuse approximately $1 trillion into the U.S. economy.