WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans close the ranks against Democrats’ proposed $ 1.9 billion COVID-19 bill, even though the White House appears to be excluding a Senate power play procedure to protect one provision that most valued by progressives: a minimum wage increase.
Despite paper-thin congressional majorities, Democratic leaders were ready to push the crucial package through the House on Friday. They hoped the Senate, where change is likely to take place, would follow soon enough to have legislation on President Joe Biden’s desk by mid-March.
Early Thursday, not a single Republican in any of the chambers said he or she would support the legislation. IDP leaders honed the attacks on the package as an assassin doing too little to reopen schools or businesses for the coronavirus pandemic and it was not only wasteful, but also unscrupulous.
“I have not yet seen a Republican find anything in it that they agree with,” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of R-Calif. ‘I think all Republicans believe in three simple things: they want a bill that puts us back to work, back to school and back to health. This bill is too expensive, too corrupt and too liberal. ”
The stubborn opposition has suggested that Biden’s first major legislative initiative may face unanimous opposition to the IDP. It was a counterpoint to his refrain during his campaign to bring the country together and a repeat of the Republican wall that new President Barack Obama encountered in 2009 and most of his administration.
Democrats showed no signs of backbiting against Republican claims that the bill is wasteful, too expensive and not focused enough on key needs such as reopening schools.
“This kind of reflexive partisan opposition is not going to wash away with the American people. It will not be at any time, but especially not during this time of crisis, “Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said Thursday.
By noon, tensions were high over the expected opinion of Elizabeth MacDonough, the non-partisan Member of the Senate, who hopes Democrats will use the package to gradually increase the federal minimum wage hourly by 2025, up to $ 15 per hour could strengthen or possibly kill.
If MacDonough decides that the minimum wage provision should come from the emergency relief package, it will kill anything but because it has enough support on its own to overcome a Republican filibuster. 60 votes are needed to thwart the tactic and the Senate is divided 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris allowed to cast only equal votes.
Another alternative would be for the Democrats to break through decades of the presidential senate, ignore the view of the parliamentarian and keep the wage provision with 51 votes in the bill.
But it is unclear whether the Democrats can achieve that. Some of their moderates are against the minimum wage increase or want to reverse it, and others may be reluctant to defy Senate precedents that way.
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain apparently ruled out the option when asked directly about the scenario.
“This is definitely not something we would do,” he told MSNBC host Joy Reid on Wednesday night. “We are going to follow the rules of the Senate and work within the system to make this bill pass.”
Democrats are pushing the $ 1.9 billion overall measure by Congress under special rules that allow them to avoid a Senate filibuster by Republicans. The same rules prohibit provisions with only a ‘random’ impact on the federal budget, as they are driven primarily by other policy purposes. The parliamentarian decides whether provisions pass the test.
If MacDonough decides that the minimum wage provision can remain in the bill, it will be a big boost for his proponents. But there would still be no guarantee that the measure would survive due to opposition from some Democrats, suggesting that grueling negotiations are ahead on the final form.
The minimum wage has stood at $ 7.25 since 2009. It is a top priority for progressive people to win the increase at a time when Democrats control Congress and the White House.
The total bill would give millions of Americans $ 1,400 direct payments to help them survive the pandemic that halted a large part of the economy for a year and killed half a million people. It includes billions of dollars in vaccines and COVID-19 testing, schools, state and local governments and unemployment benefits, while providing tax cuts or payments to many families with children.
In a sign of hardball politics ahead, the top Republicans proposed that spending on transportation for California and New York be pushed into the bill to benefit House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, who represents San Francisco and Schumer.
McCarthy said the bill had $ 100 million to extend the BART shuttle system from the San Francisco area south to San Jose. The project was previously approved by the Trump administration, a Democratic assistant said.
McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Suggested Schumer won money for a bridge connecting the state of New York with Canada.