Biden To Ask For Third Round Of Stimulus Aid Early Next Year

President-elect Joe Biden said he wants to pass another COVID-19 stimulus relief soon after he gets into office in January, according to Bloomberg.

“Congress did its job this week and I can — and I must — ask them to do it again next year,” he said Tuesday (Dec. 22), saying the "darkest days in the battle against COVID" are still ahead, not behind us yet.

Biden called for more support for state and local governments, which have been in serious need as the pandemic has gone on. He also said there needed to be a range of other economic benefits.

However, Biden didn't specify a dollar amount for future relief bills or say what he thought would be the outcome, Bloomberg said.

While he couldn't say with certainty what Congress might do, though, he did have some expectations — he said he expects Congress to provide enough funding to vaccinate 300 million Americans, boost unemployment insurance, put measures in place to stop evictions, fund protective equipment for frontline healthcare workers and provide more direct payments, per the report.

In Biden's opinion, these proposals should have bipartisan support because the election he won showed that people wanted a government where politicians reached across the aisle often.

Vaccines have begun being distributed as of last week, but the COVID-19 pandemic has infected over 18 million Americans and killed over 321,000.

The recent COVID Relief Package was agreed upon by lawmakers this week and will give $600 direct payments to Americans along with $300 in unemployment benefits every week. The unemployment benefits will last 11 weeks. There's also money allotted for things like vaccine funding, school assistance and airlines.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the bill's passing, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the bill was "far from perfect" but was necessary anyway to help alleviate the struggles during the crisis.