US lawmakers from both sides of the political spectrum are currently discussing President Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus plan. The bill is receiving pushback by both Democrats and Republicans due to the fact that it includes stipends for wealthy Americans.
The director of Biden’s National Economic Council told the Senate that “we can’t wait” for the stimulus package, while some Republican lawmakers have expressed their doubts about the plan.
“It seems premature to be considering a package of this size and scope,” said a Republican Senator, highlighting that both parties should be focused on a vaccine rollout instead.
Biden's stimulus plan includes direct cash transfers to millions of Americans, including those who make over $300,000 a year, as well as about $350 billion in aid to local and state governments. Republicans oppose the latter, which they consider a bailout for poorly run local governments. Others criticize Biden's plan because it would increase considerably the already blown out federal budget deficit, which currently amounts to $3.13 trillion.
So far 25,702,125 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States as well as 429,490 total deaths, making the country the most affected in the world, followed by India, Brazil and Russia. Currently, the Republican State of West Virginia leads in terms of the vaccine rollout, while the rest of the country has yet to figure out how to boost the distribution of the vaccine.
Last week, the media reported that President Biden was aiming to vaccinate around 100 million people in the first 100 days of his administration. However, Dr. Anthony Fauci told a reporter that Biden was talking about the number of doses instead of making a reference to the total number of fully vaccinated people.
“Let me clarify that because there was a little bit of a misunderstanding. What we’re talking about is 100 million shots in individuals,” said Fauci during an interview.
As of Saturday, around 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed in the United States. Biden's administration has been heavily criticized, since under President Trump, around 1 million dosages per day were already being distributed and there are currently no signs of a significant boost in the distribution of the vaccine.
Biden's administration is currently struggling against the spread of new variants of the virus as well. The media currently expect Biden's administration to announce a travel ban on most incoming non-Americans from South Africa, after restricting travel from Brazil, the UK and several European countries.
By 8:24 GMT, the US dollar fell by 0.09% against a bundle of its main competitors, falling to the 90.15 level.