Dems-eye Senate instrument to accept COVID relief bill
The anchor of the ‘Special Report’, Bret Baier, breaks down the new COVID bill, the White House press release label, the West Virginia error of Vice President Kamala Harris and more on ‘America Reports’.
The ‘vote-a-rama’ in the Senate, which began on Thursday around 2:30 p.m., ended shortly before 6 a.m. Friday after a marathon process in which Republicans forced Democrats to vote on difficult issues for more than 15 hours.
The Senate passed a budget resolution for coronavirus relief 51-50, with Vice President Harris casting the casting vote. This is not a final bill, but allows the Senate to proceed with a final bill under the budget reconciliation rules, which will allow Democrats to pass a coronavirus stimulus plan through a GOP filibuster. hold, as long as their caucus remains united. The House is expected to proceed with the “simultaneous” budget resolution later Friday.
Senate Republicans use a Senate procedure that enables them to propose a plethora of amendments to the budget resolution, forcing senators to take a stand on a number of issues.
REPUBLICANS HAVE DEMOCRACY SPOT ON STIMULUS CONTROLS, TAXES IN MARATHON ‘VOTE-A-RAMA’
“I am so thankful that our caucus has stayed together in unity. We had no choice, given the problems facing America and the desire to move forward. And we have moved forward,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck said. Schumer, DN.Y., said. “Many amendments from two parties were accepted, so it was a dual activity.”
He added: ‘We cannot stress enough how much help America needs during this terrible crisis, and we cannot miss the point where we have a long way to go. It was a giant first step … to bring America back, to overcome that terrible crisis and then move America forward. ‘
Although some GOP amendments were adopted, the final vote was according to party lines.
Among the issues that forced Republican votes were efforts to support the Trump administration’s policies in Mexico, the blockade of the Keystone XL pipeline by President Biden, the ban on fracturing, the raising of the federal minimum wage during the pandemic, and more.
A final Democratic amendment proposed by Schumer overturned three amendments proposed by the IDP that went with two-fold majorities to hydrofracking, the Keystone XL pipeline and counter-stimulation control for illegal immigrants. Harris also cast the casting vote on it.
In total, the Senate took 41 votes between Thursday and Friday.
Senate Minority Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Had earlier indicated that Republicans would drag out the process with the goal of withdrawing a pound of meat from Democrats in awkward votes.
“We are going to put senators on the record,” he said Thursday. “Expect votes that will prevent Washington from actively killing jobs during a recovery – such as ending the Keystone pipeline; that labor-intensive, one-time increase in the minimum wage; and whether you should hamper tax increases on small businesses for the duration of this emergency . ”
He also said earlier that Republicans will make amendments on stimulus investigations for illegal immigrants, federal funding for school districts that do not get children into classrooms, and more.
In other amendments during the vote-a-rama, the Senate voted 97-3 to keep the U.S. Embassy in Israel in Jerusalem; 50-50 on a failed amendment in support of the boundary wall; 50-50 on a failed amendment supporting the free exercise of religion; 100-0 to oppose the reimbursement of the police; 50-50 on a failed amendment to oppose packing the Supreme Court; 50-50 on a failed amendment opposing counter-stimulation tests for people in prison; 50-50 on a failed amendment opposing the Biden administration’s opposition to restricting oil and gas leasing to federal lands; 50-50 on a failed amendment against a federal carbon tax; 53-47 in favor of an amendment supporting the expansion of health savings accounts; and more.
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Schumer on Thursday criticized Republicans for intending to “edit messages” to “score political points.”
“What changes our friends in the minority are proposing depends entirely on them,” Schumer said. He added that he hoped Republicans would not “use the pandemic relief debate to sharpen … biased points of discussion”.
Schumer continues: “If there are good faith changes on the other side, we look forward to it.”