Biden has a $1.9 trillion economic recovery plan—and a path to achieve it

With Democrats unexpectedly set to control both houses of Congress for the first time in over a decade, US president-elect Joe Biden has laid out an ambitious plan to right the economy in the face of a spiraling health crisis. Biden outlined the details of his sweeping agenda against the backdrop of rising US jobless claims and Covid-19 deaths. The $1.9 trillion aid package, which he called the “American Rescue Plan,” will include a new round of stimulus checks, more than $400 billion to accelerate vaccine production and distribution and safely reopen schools, augmented unemployment benefits, $350 billion to bolster beleaguered city and state government budgets, and expanded childcare subsidies.