The U.S. Senate has passed a budget resolution that would allow Joe Biden’s $ 1.9-ton (£ 1.4-ton) Covid-19 assistance package to be implemented in the coming weeks without Republican support.
Vice President Kamala Harris broke a 50/50 tie by casting a vote in favor of the Democratic measure, which sent it to the House of Representatives for final approval. It was the first time Harris, in her role as president of the Senate, had cast a casting vote after he was sworn in as the first female vice president on January 20.
The House implemented its own budget measure on Wednesday. Congress can now work to draft a bill that can be passed by both houses by a simple majority, controlled by the Democrats. Mid-March was proposed as a probable date on which the measure could be implemented, a point at which increased unemployment benefits would lapse if Congress did not act.
The vote took place on Friday at 05:30 at the end of a marathon senate debate session, known among senators as ‘vote-a-rama’, a procedure by which they could present theoretically unlimited amendments.
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Biden will meet with Democratic House leaders and committee chairmen early Friday morning to discuss Covid’s economic stimulus, and is expected to make public remarks on the progress during a briefing at 11.45 EST (1645 GMT).
There was an overnight disagreement between Republicans in the Senate, especially over plans for a $ 15 federal minimum wage. Iowa’s Republican senator Joni Ernst introduced an amendment to ‘raise the federal minimum wage during a’ global pandemic ‘, which was put to the vote by a vote.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said he still intends to implement the measure: “We need to end the famine crisis in Iowa and the United States.”
He outlined plans to get a wage increase, which has been phased in for more than five years, included in a budget reconciliation bill. The federal minimum wage is currently $ 7.25 per hour and has not been increased since 2009.
In a tweet after the vote, Sanders said: “With the adoption of this budget resolution to provide relief to our working families, we have the opportunity not only to address the pandemic and the economic collapse; we also have the opportunity to give the American people hope and faith in our government. ”
During the debate, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said: “This is not the time for trillions of dollars to make perpetual barriers and economic decline a little more palatable. Despite the real needs, despite all the talk of dual unity “The Democrats in Congress are plowing ahead. They are using this fraudulent budget to set the table through their $ 1.9 billion rough draft.”
The proposed $ 1.9 billion relief package will be used to accelerate Covid-19 vaccines across the country. Other funds extend special unemployment benefits that expire at the end of March and make direct payments to people to help them pay bills and stimulate the economy. Democrats also want to send money to state and local governments that are dealing with the worst health crisis in decades.