Republicans test history in vote against pandemic relief

NEW YORK (AP) — Every House Republican voted early Saturday against a popular $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package that would send $1,400 checks to most Americans and hundreds of billions more to help open schools, revive struggling businesses and strengthen state and local governments. Senate Republicans are expected to oppose a similar measure in the coming weeks. As the nation struggles to recover from the worst health and financial crises in generations, strategists in both parties agree that it’s risky for Republicans to assume their political playbook, which benefited the party politically after the 2008 financial crisis, will lead to the same ballot-box success. Polling suggests that an overwhelming majority of voters supports the Democrats’ pandemic relief plan.