BREAKING - US Senate narrowly passes $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill

 One of the largest spending plans in US history has passed through the

Senate after half a day of debate and deliberation. It will now return to the House of Representatives.

Democrats in the US Senate managed to vote through a relief bill on Saturday that aims to release trillions of dollars to support workers and businesses hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The bill was approved along party lines after the longest voting session in the institution's modern history. Just shy of 12 hours were needed to find a satisfactory compromise for centrist Democrats who opposed increasing unemployment benefits.

The bill must still return to the House of Representatives before passing into law. It would see a total of $1.9 trillion (€1.6 trillion) of financial relief.

It passed through the Senate with a vote of 49-50 after Republican Senator for Alaska Daniel Sullivan left on Friday for a family funeral, meaning that Vice President Kamala Harris did not have to step in to break the tie.