This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a major government funding bill, which also included economic stimulus provisions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The bill passed overwhelmingly and with bipartisan support in the House through two roll call votes on Dec. 21, 2020. The first vote was on the portion of the bill for the appropriations for some federal departments including Commerce, Justice, Defense, Treasury, and Homeland Security, and some federal components including the White House and the District of Columbia. The second vote was on the remaining portion of the bill, which included appropriations for the remainder of the federal government as well as coronavirus stimulus and relief and many other miscellaneous provisions. It also passed the Senate overwhelmingly late that night.
According to our analysis, this bill is the fifth longest bill to be passed by Congress in the history of the country. Consequently, a more detailed summary is not easily possible. More details can be found in the House Rules Committee Joint Explanatory Statements.
This bill was originally introduced as the United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act. That text passed the House and Senate in late 2019 and early 2020 (but in non-identical forms). In December 2020, the text of the bill was replaced with the omnibus appropriations and coronavirus relief bill. The original United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act text was retained in Title XIX and passed along with the rest of the revised bill.
