The U.S. House of Representatives approved a budget package on Friday by 219-209 that enables Democrats to push President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package through Congress without Republican support in a process that will likely take weeks.

The Senate approved the budget plan earlier on Friday. Intended as a blueprint for writing the upcoming COVID-19 aid bill, the budget resolution is not a law and does not require a presidential signature.

The package includes a host of measures aimed at boosting economic recovery, including aid to small businesses and the unemployed, and funds to speed up vaccine distribution to contain the pandemic.

On Friday, Biden vowed to "act fast" as he addressed the nation on Friday, citing feeble U.S. employment data.

The jobs data showed the unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent in January, but the economy added only 49,000 jobs.

"It's very clear that our economy is still in trouble," Biden said. "I see enormous pain in this country. I am going to act fast."

(Cover: A Times Square Alliance street sweeper worker walks through a nearly empty Times Square in Manhattan during the outbreak of COVID-19 in New York City, U.S., April 7, 2020. /Reuters)