The chamber was planning to start voting by noon on a mountain of amendments, mostly by GOP opponents, and which would be rejected by virtually everyone. That would put the Senate on track to approve its revised version of the massive measure, probably over the weekend, and send it back to the House so it could send the final package to Biden for his signature.
Moments after the Senate passed the legislation Thursday, Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Forced the clerks of the chamber to read out the entire 628-page measure. The exhausting task took the staff ten hours and 44 minutes and ends shortly after 2am EST, while Johnson alternately sits at his desk and walks around the mostly empty room.
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Democratic leaders made more than a dozen late additions to their package on Thursday. This reflects their need to capture the unanimous support of all their senators – plus Vice President Kamala Harris’ casting vote – to succeed in the uncertainly divided 50-50 chamber.
The Senate’s 51-50 vote to start debating the package, with Harris pushing the Democrats over, emphasized how they navigate the package through Congress, with virtually no margin for error. In the House, their majority is a meager ten votes.
The bill, which aims to fight the killer virus and restore the weakened economy, will provide direct payments of up to $ 1,400 to most Americans. There is also money for COVID-19 vaccines and tests, assistance to state and local governments, assistance to schools and the airline industry, tax benefits for lower earners and families with children, and subsidies for medical insurance.
“We are not going to be afraid of a big challenge,” Chuck Schumer, leader of the Senate Majority, DN.Y.
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The new provisions presented articles that appealed to all Democrats. Progressives have money improvements for nutrition programs, federal health care subsidies for workers who lose jobs, tax-free student loans, and money for public broadcasting and consumer protection investigations.
Moderates have won funds for rural health care, language that ensures the minimum amounts of money for smaller states and a ban on states receiving assistance with the windfall to lower taxes. And for everyone, there was money for infrastructure, cultural venues, start-ups and after-school programs.
Even with the late revisions, there was a good chance that lawmakers would make another one and vote to increase the bill’s $ 400 weekly emergency unemployment benefits back to $ 300.
That possible change could also extend the emergency payments until September. It was described by assistants and a lobbyist who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.
The leaders of Biden and the Senate on Wednesday agreed to retain the actual unemployment benefits of $ 400 included in the version of the bill passed by the House on Saturday. The reduction to $ 300 – which would apparently take place once the Senate launches a ‘vote-a-rama’ on the number of amendments later this week – appears to reflect a need to secure support from moderate Democrats.
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It also gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, the task of keeping the many progressives of her room on board. Liberals have already been hit hard when their no. 1st priority – a federal minimum wage increase to $ 15 per hour included in the House package – was created by the Senate bill for violating chamber rules and for lack of support from moderates.
In another bargain that satisfied moderates, Biden and the Senate Democrats on Wednesday agreed to facilitate the right to direct checks to individuals. The new provision stops paying $ 1,400 for individuals earning at least $ 80,000 and couples earning $ 160,000 completely lower than the original ceilings.
“My hope is that they do not think too much about it,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., Said in an interview with the Senate. “If they do, there could be problems.”
Congress wants to send the bill to Biden before March 14, when a previous round of emergency benefits for people thrown out of work by the pandemic expires.
Johnson told reporters he was forcing the bill to “shine a light on this insulting and obscene amount of money”. Schumer said Johnson would “only get a few sore throats for Senate clerks.”
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Asked about GOP delays, Biden told reporters he had spoken to Republican lawmakers and said, “We keep everyone informed.” Biden met last month with Republican senators who presented a plan a third the size of the Democrats’ proposal, and there have been no signs since serious talks.
Johnson’s move points to a larger GOP argument: Democrats are pushing an overpriced bill by ignoring the growing number of vaccinations and other signs that the country’s pandemic problem is beginning to ease.
“Instead of going into a dark tunnel, we’re speeding out of it,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
The economic recovery came to a standstill late last year as the virus rose, which has had a shortage of rents in recent months. Employers added just 49,000 jobs in January and reduced 227,000 jobs in December. Economists estimate that the February employment report released Friday will show a profit of 175,000, which is not nearly enough to quickly recover the nearly ten million jobs caused by the recession due to pandemic.
The non-partisan Congress budget office estimates that economic growth this year without Biden’s bailout package will exceed 4%. Republicans say the economy is being turned upside down, but Democrats say a strong economic stimulus is still needed to prevent a downturn.
“It’s a crisis that’s still with us, and it’s deadly, deadly serious,” Schumer said.
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Associated Press authors Josh Boak, Alexandra Jaffe and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
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