Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES)

In the first months of 2020, the COVID-19 virus brought much of the U.S. economy to a screeching halt. A health crisis the which had not been seen in decades, COVID-19 resulted in businesses closing and introduced enormous uncertainty to the stock market, forcing the United States into a steep recession in February after more than 2 years of steady economic expansion. With unemployment rising rapidly and millions of Americans facing the grim prospect of eviction and hunger, federal leaders from both parties recognized the need to intervene with the passage of a law with unprecedented reach, in the hopes of avoiding a total collapse of the U.S. economy. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed easily through both houses of Congress and went to the desk of President Donald Trump, who signed the bill into law at the end of March. As the biggest economic relief package in American history at over $2 trillion, the CARES Act included stipulations that stimulus checks totaling around $290 billion be sent to households, suspensions on evictions and student loan payments go into effect, unemployment insurance be expanded for vulnerable workers, and hospitals and health care workers receive assistance needed to prevent them from being overwhelmed.