周六下午，参议院通过美国救援计划后，乔·拜登总统迈出了胜利的一步，庆祝他距离将1.9万亿美元的COVID救助计划签署为法律又近了一步，这是他作为总统的第一次立法推动。

该法案现在将返回众议院，众议院定于周二就参议院的修订立法进行表决。但即使白宫庆祝胜利，参议院通过该法案的方式也可能是拜登未来的风向标。

参议院在民主党的唯一支持下通过了该法案，尽管总统希望该法案能像以前的新冠肺炎一揽子计划一样赢得两党的投票，从而使他能够贯彻一项老生常谈的竞选承诺，在过道上工作。

温和派参议员乔·曼钦(Joe Manchin)因反对该法案延长失业救济金而将参议院程序推迟了近12个小时，这证明了让所有50名参议院民主党人都参与新冠肺炎纾困是一项挑战。

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参议员乔·曼钦在华盛顿参议院就冠状病毒救助法案投票前发表讲话

有人试图争取两党对该法案的支持。总统的第一次椭圆形办公室会议是与10名共和党参议员举行的，他们提出了一项6000亿美元的纾困反提案。尽管举行了会议，白宫继续坚持政府对寻找妥协的领域持开放态度，但民主党人继续推进和解以通过法案，只要求民主党人支持立法，并淡化了重大妥协的前景。

这项广受欢迎的法案未能赢得共和党的支持，也引发了人们对拜登未来立法议程的可行性以及他能否通过竞选中提出的大胆政策建议的质疑，其中许多建议需要至少10名共和党参议员的支持。周六，拜登对此不屑一顾。

“我要成功了。我们将继续前进。听着，美国人民强烈支持我们正在做的事情。这是这里的关键。这将继续渗透到公众中，包括我们的共和党朋友。有很多共和党人非常接近，他们有很大的压力。我仍然没有放弃获得他们的支持，”拜登在讲话后告诉记者。

拜登还对这一说法感到愤怒，即进步的民主党人对为安抚曼钦等温和派而做出的妥协感到沮丧，包括减少众议院版本法案中包括的每周失业福利。

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参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默在美国国会大厦举行的新闻发布会上发言

“他们并不沮丧。伯尼·桑德斯说，这是他所见过的在这方面通过的最进步的法案——因为他去过那里，”拜登说。

“最终结果基本上差不多。因此，我认为任何妥协都没有从根本上改变我最初提出的法案的实质。”

尽管如此，拜登可能会在党内政策上面临熟悉的断层线，这一点在提高15美元最低工资的分歧上尤为突出。拜登最初的纾困提议中包括了这一措施，但参议院议员表示，如果通过和解，这一措施可能不会被纳入参议院法案。

民主党核心小组的八名成员和共和党人一起投票反对伯尼·桑德斯参议员提出的一项修正案。)推翻议员的决定。

桑德斯在修正案投票后的一份声明中警告说:“如果任何参议员认为这是他们最后一次投票决定是否给3200万美国人加薪，他们就大错特错了。”他预测拜登将面临一场立法战。

白宫一直对救助计划后的下一步立法行动守口如瓶。拜登已经提出了一项全面的移民提案，将为1100万无证移民提供获得公民身份的途径，并就基础设施举行了两党会议。

但拜登也预见到，救助法案只是他整个国家复苏计划的一部分。

“这是我第一次在国会联席会议上露面，我将规划我的重建更美好家园的恢复计划。它将对基础设施进行历史性投资，即“重建更美好的未来”计划。基础设施、制造、创新、研发和清洁能源。拜登在宣誓就职前宣布美国救援计划的一月份讲话中说。

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乔·拜登总统在国家餐厅就美国救援计划的通过发表讲话

在拜登就职后的几周内，白宫一直专注于通过国会获得美国历史上最大的刺激计划之一，策划拜登的公开讲话和露面，以促进该计划，该计划将向大多数美国人提供1400美元的直接刺激支票，拨款1300亿美元重新开放学校，并提供1600亿美元用于疫苗接种和测试。

“当我们45天前就职时，我向美国人民承诺，帮助正在进行中。今天，我可以说，我们在兑现即将提供帮助的承诺方面又向前迈出了一大步，”拜登在周六下午的讲话中说。

拜登还表示，他预计对美国人的直接付款将在本月底到期。

“听着，底线是:这个计划让我们走上了战胜病毒的道路。拜登说:“这个计划给了那些最艰难的家庭帮助和喘息的空间，让他们度过这个时刻。”。

Biden takes 'giant step forward' on COVID-19 relief, but challenges lie ahead

After the Senate passed the American Rescue Plan Saturday afternoon, President Joe Biden took a victory lap celebrating being one step closer to signing into law his massive, $1.9 trillion COVID relief package -- his first legislative push as president.

The bill will now move back to the House, which is slated to vote on the Senate’s amended legislation Tuesday. But even as the White House celebrates the victory, the way the measure passed the Senate could be a bellwether for what's ahead for Biden.

The Senate passed the bill with only Democratic support, despite the president's hope the bill would earn bipartisan votes, as previous COVID-19 packages have, allowing him to follow through on a well-worn campaign pledge to work across the aisle.

And just getting all 50 Senate Democrats on board for COVID-19 relief proved to be a challenge after moderate Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) put a nearly 12-hour delay on the Senate proceedings over an objection to the bill’s extended unemployment benefits.

There were attempts at earning bipartisan support for the bill. The president’s first Oval Office meeting was with 10 Republican senators who put forward a $600 billion relief counterproposal. Despite the meeting and the White House’s continued insistence that the administration was open to finding areas of compromise, Democrats moved forward with reconciliation to pass the bill, requiring only Democratic support for the legislation and dimming the prospects of major compromise.

The failure to win Republican support for the widely popular bill has also raised questions about the viability of Biden’s future legislative agenda and his ability to pass the bold policy proposals from his campaign, many of which will require the support of at least 10 Republican senators. On Saturday, Biden brushed off the concern.

“I’m going to succeed. We're going to succeed moving forward. Look, the American people strongly support what we're doing. That's the key here. And that's going to continue to seep down through the public, including from our Republican friends. There's a lot of Republicans who came very close, they’ve got a lot of pressure on them. I still haven't given up on getting their support,” Biden told reporters following his remarks.

Biden also bristled at the suggestion that progressive Democrats were frustrated by the compromises that were made to assuage moderates like Manchin, including reducing the weekly unemployment benefits that were included in the House version of the bill.

“They're not frustrated. Bernie Sanders said this is the most progressive bill he’s ever seen passed in this -- since he’s been there," Biden said.

“The end result is essentially about the same. And so, I don't think any of the compromises have in any way fundamentally altered the essence of what I put in the bill in the first place."

Still, Biden is likely to face familiar fault lines on policy within the party going forward, highlighted by the divide over raising the $15 minimum wage -- a measure Biden included in his initial relief proposal but not included in the Senate bill after the Senate Parliamentarian said could it not be included if passed by reconciliation.

Eight members of the Democratic caucus joined Republicans in voting against an amendment put forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to overrule the Parliamentarian’s decision.

“If any Senator believes this is the last time they will cast a vote on whether or not to give a raise to 32 million Americans, they are sorely mistaken,” Sanders warned in a statement after the vote on the amendment, previewing a legislative battle ahead for Biden.

The White House has remained tight-lipped about what its next legislative push will be after the relief package. Biden has already introduced a sweeping immigration proposal that would give 11 million undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship and has held bipartisan meetings on infrastructure.

But Biden has also previewed that the relief bill was just part one of his overall recovery plan for the country.

“In my first appearance before a joint session of Congress, I will layout my Build Back Better recovery plan. It will make historic investments in infrastructure, that Build Back Better plan. Infrastructure, manufacturing, innovation, research and development, and clean energy. Investments in a caregiving economy and skills and training needed by our workers to be able to compete and win in the global economy,” Biden said in January remarks announcing the American Rescue Plan prior to taking the oath of office.

In the weeks since Biden was inaugurated, the White House has been laser-focused on getting what would be one of the biggest stimulus plans in U.S. history through Congress, curating Biden’s public remarks and appearances to promote the plan that would give $1,400 direct stimulus checks to most Americans, allocate $130 billion to reopen schools and provide $160 billion for vaccinations and testing.

“When we took office 45 days ago, I promised the American people that help was on the way. Today, I can say we've taken one more giant step forward in delivering on that promise that help is on the way,” Biden said in remarks Saturday afternoon.

Biden also said he expects the direct payments to Americans to go out the door by the end of the month.

“Look, the bottom line is this: This plan puts us on a path to beating the virus. This plan gives those families who are struggling the most -- the help and breathing room they need to get through this moment,” Biden said.