Biden and Yellen urge Democrats to go big and bold on Covid relief package

Schumer says $618bn Republican offer too small and warns crisis could drag on for years unless large-scale relief is passed

Joe Biden and his new treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, are encouraging Democrats in Congress to go big and bold on the Covid-19 relief package and have effectively panned a Republican alternative that is less than a third the size of the president's $1.9tn rescue plan.

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