Live updates: Amid fallout from Trump’s impeachment, Biden seeks to keep focus on coronavirus, economy

11:50 a.m.

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Biden to unveil vaccination and economic relief package

By John Wagner, Jeff Stein and Erica Werner

Biden on Thursday night plans to unveil a vaccination and economic relief legislative package that is expected to include the expansion of an existing tax credit for children as well as $2,000 stimulus payments, unemployment benefits and other assistance.

The announcement, scheduled in an address from Wilmington, Del., comes as Biden seeks to maintain a focus on combating the coronavirus and pursuing other priorities amid the fallout from Trump’s second impeachment.

“This nation also remains in the grip of a deadly virus and a reeling economy,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday after the House voted to impeach Trump and preparations began for a Senate trial. “I hope that the Senate leadership will find a way to deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation.”

Biden’s office said the package he will unveil Thursday seeks to “fund vaccinations and provide immediate, direct relief to working families and communities bearing the brunt of this crisis and call on both parties in Congress to move his proposals quickly.”

Transition officials have not disclosed the overall price tag of the package, but it is expected to be more than $1 trillion.

The inclusion of an expansion of a child tax credit might draw opposition from Republican lawmakers, who have balked at the trillions of dollars already authorized by Congress in response to the economic downturn caused by coronavirus pandemic.

Source: WP