House Dems clear $1.5T spending deal after stripping Covid aid

House Democrats on Wednesday cleared a $1.5 trillion spending compromise — along with billions in emergency aid for Ukraine — in a major victory for President Joe Biden, even as a rank-and-file revolt forced party leaders to strip billions of dollars in pandemic relief from the same bill.

Democrats were jubilant over the passage of the bill, which was the result of months of protracted battles with GOP leaders. But it wasn’t without last-minute drama in the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team were forced to yank the White House’s $15 billion coronavirus relief request out of their bill after dozens of members revolted against paying for that aid using their home states’ stockpiles of pandemic cash.