Biden says 'no time to waste' on COVID relief bill

During brief remarks Saturday morning, Biden praised the House passage of his American Rescue Plan and urged the Senate to pass the bill, warning there’s “no time to waste.” 

He said he spoke with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just before stepping out and thanked her for her work on the effort and for moving the country “one step forward” on relief.

The $1.9 trillion economic coronavirus relief package will provide resources to schools and businesses, boost funding for vaccinations and testing and grant financial relief to Americans across the country.

“With their vote, we're one step closer to vaccinating the nation. We are one step closer to putting $1,400 in the pockets of Americans,” Biden said. “We're one step closer to extending unemployment benefits for millions of Americans who are shortly going to lose them. We're one step closer to helping millions of Americans feed their families, and keep a roof over their head.”

“We're one step closer to getting our kids safely back in school. And we're one step closer to getting state and local governments the money they need to prevent massive layoffs for essential workers,” he added. 

He directed a message to the Senate stressing, “I hope it will receive quick action.”

“If we act now, decisively, quickly and boldly, we can finally get ahead of this virus, we can finally get our economy moving again, and the people of this country have suffered far too much for too long.”

-ABC News’ MaryAlice Parks, Justin Gomez and Molly Nagle

The House approved a massive $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, advancing President Joe Biden's top agenda item and providing more resources to schools and businesses, boost funding for vaccinations and testing, and grant financial relief to Americans across the country.

Democrats passed the measure early Saturday morning in a party-line vote, with Republicans united against the bill calling for slimmer, more-targeted relief.

All but two Democrats supported the bill in the 219-212 vote, and no Republicans backed the package.

Reps. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., and Jared Golden, D-Maine, voted against the legislation.

The Senate is expected to take up the legislation next week, after the chamber's parliamentarian ruled that Democrats could not include a $15 minimum wage in the proposal over budgetary concerns.

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel and Trish Turner

Addressing Texas’ effort to recover from the recent winter storm and the nation’s effort to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, President Joe Biden offered a message of unity Friday night in calling on the nation to put aside partisanship and instead focus on working toward a common cause.

"When a crisis hits our states like the one to hit Texas, it's not a Republican or Democrat that’s hurting, it's our fellow Americans who are hurting, and it's our job to help everyone in need. Look out for one another, leave nobody behind. That's what we've seen today in our visit," Biden said, addressing a group in a parking lot outside a mass vaccination site in Houston.

He committed to the people of Texas that the federal government will not turn its back in the long road to recovery: "We will be true partners to help you recover and rebuild from the storms and this pandemic and the economic crisis. We're in for the long haul."

Turning to the topic of the pandemic, Biden applauded the progress on vaccinations -- specifically pointing to the Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel recommending authorization of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

"It's incredible. The precision, the safety, the pride, the sense of purpose, everyone involved at that facility. And we've all seen the news about Johnson & Johnson vaccine, today’s, just -- the third safe, effective vaccine. And it's out. It’s -- They've approved it today,” he said.

The president made a plea for taking politics out of the pandemic, saying it should unite and not divide the nation.

"There is nothing partisan about this virus. It's too long we've allowed the virus to divide us. I met today with Gov. [Greg] Abbott, Sen. [John] Cornyn, conservative Republicans. I'm a Democratic president," he said. "We disagree on plenty of things, and there is nothing wrong with that, but there are plenty of things we can work on together. And one of them is represented right here today -- the effort to speed up vaccinations."

"We're not giving shots to Democrats or Republicans. I say it again, we're giving shots to Americans," he added.

-ABC News' Jordyn Phelps

Rep. Ted Budd, R-N.C., had a message for Democrats last summer about their proxy voting system set up during the pandemic: it was an "unconstitutional scheme."

"If you use Nancy Pelosi's proxy to skip work, you shouldn't get paid. It's as simple as that," he said in a June 30 Facebook video introducing his new bill withholding member pay for proxy voting. 

On Friday, as the House prepared to vote on the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package on Capitol Hill, Budd was 850 miles away, addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., to vote as his proxy, "due to the ongoing public health emergency."

Budd wasn't alone: A handful of House Republicans previously critical of the proxy vote system submitted letters to have colleagues vote for them, while they were scheduled to appear at CPAC. 

Freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., tweeted last summer that leaders "show up no matter how uncertain the times are," and that Democrats were "cowards for hiding" and proxy voting. 

He was also in Orlando on Friday, telling conservatives activists, "If we sit on the sidelines, we will not have a country to inherit."

"If we do not get involved and say that it is our duty to make sure that our country is responsible, that our country doesn't take away our liberties, then my friends, we will lose this nation," Cawthorn said. 

Others Republicans scheduled to appear at CPAC on Friday who also planned to vote by proxy included Reps. Greg Steube of Florida, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, and Matt Gaetz of Florida, who was one of the first Republicans to support proxy voting.

Curtis Kalin, a spokesman for Budd, said the congressman still opposes proxy voting, and will donate his salary for the days he used the system to a restaurant relief fund, given his bill last year, "The No Pay for Proxy Voting Act."

The Republicans who attended CPAC aren't alone in their questionable use of the proxy voting system -- established by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., last year to cut down member travel to Washington during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., was caught voting during a Transportation Committee hearing from a boat during a family trip to Utah. Stanton later apologized and said he "messed up." And several House Democrats voted by proxy last May in order to attend a SpaceX rocket launch in Florida.-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel