Biden, Dems prevail as Senate OKs $1.9 trillion virus relief bill
An exhausted Senate narrowly passed a $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill on Saturday as President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies scored a victory they deemed crucial in lifting the country out of the pandemic and the economic depression.
After working overnight on a mountain of amendments, nearly all Republican and rejected, the cloudy-eyed senators approved the lengthy package in a 50-49 party vote. That sets up final congressional approval by the House next week so lawmakers can send it to Biden for signature.
“We tell the American people that help is on the way,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y. Citing the country’s desire to resume normalcy, he added: “Our job at this time is to help our country move from this stormy present to that hopeful future.”
The huge package – its total spending is nearly one-tenth the size of the entire US economy – is Biden’s top initial priority. It stands as his formula for tackling the deadly virus and a limp economy – twin crises that have plagued the country for a year.
Saturday’s vote was also a crucial political moment for Biden and the Democrats, who need nothing less than the party’s unanimity in a 50-50 Senate running because of Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaker vote. They also have a small 10-vote lead in the House.
A small but fundamental band of moderate Democrats leveraged changes to the bill that outraged progressives, which did not make it easier for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, to guide the measure in the House. But rejecting his first signing bill was not an option for Democrats, who face two years of trying to run Congress with virtually no margin for error.
The bill provides direct payments of up to $ 1,400 for most Americans, extended emergency unemployment benefits, and large amounts of spending for COVID-19 vaccines and testing, struggling states and cities, schools and industries, along with waivers. tax to help low-income people. , families with children and consumers who buy health insurance.
The package faced strong opposition from Republicans, calling it a waste of spending for the Democrats’ liberal allies that ignores recent signs that the pandemic and the economy could be turning the corner.
“The Senate has never spent $ 2 billion in a more disorderly way,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Of the Democrats, he said, “their top priority was not pandemic relief. It was his Washington wish list. ”
The Senate launched a dreaded “voting marathon” – a continuous series of votes on amendments – shortly before midnight Friday, and had ultimately bypassed about three dozen. The Senate had been in session since 9 a.m. EST on Friday.
Overnight, the camera was like an experiment in the best techniques for staying awake. Several lawmakers appeared to rest their eyes or doze at their desks, often burying their faces in their hands. At one point, Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, at 48, one of the youngest senators, trotted into the chamber and did a prolonged stretch.
The measure follows five previous ones totaling about $ 4 trillion that Congress has enacted since last spring and comes amid signs of possible change.
Vaccine supplies are on the rise, deaths and the number of cases are down but still terribly high, and hiring was surprisingly strong last month, even though the economy is still 10 million jobs fewer than pre-levels. the pandemic.
The Senate package was repeatedly delayed as Democrats made last-minute changes aimed at balancing the demands of their competing moderate and progressive factions.
Work on the bill was halted on Friday after an agreement among Democrats on extending emergency unemployment benefits appeared to collapse. Almost 12 hours later, leading Democrats and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, perhaps the House’s most conservative Democrat, said they had a deal and the Senate passed it with a 50-49 vote on the party line.
Under his commitment, weekly $ 300 emergency unemployment checks would be renewed, in addition to regular state benefits, and a final payment would be made on October 6. jobs and risk of tax penalties on profits.
The House aid bill, largely similar to the Senate’s, provided weekly benefits of $ 400 through August. Current payments of $ 300 per week are due March 14, and Democrats want the bill on Biden’s desk by then to avoid a lapse.
Manchin and Republicans have claimed that higher unemployment benefits discourage people from returning to work, a reason most Democrats and many economists reject.
That agreement on unemployment benefits was not the only movement that showed the dominance of the moderates.
The Senate voted Friday to push out a House-approved increase in the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour by 2025, a major defeat for progressives. Eight Democrats opposed the increase, suggesting that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., And other progressives who pledged to continue the effort in the coming months will face a tough fight.
Party leaders also agreed to restrict eligibility for the $ 1,400 stimulus checks that will go to most Americans. That amount would be gradually reduced until, under the Senate bill, it reaches zero for people earning $ 80,000 and couples earning $ 160,000. Those amounts were higher in the House version.
Many of the rejected Republican amendments were attempts to force Democrats to cast politically uncomfortable votes or for Republicans to demonstrate their zeal for issues that appeal to their voters.
These included frustrated efforts to ban the bill’s education funds from going to schools closed by the pandemic that do not reopen, or allowing male-born transgender students to participate in female sports. An amendment would have blocked aid to so-called sanctuary cities, where local authorities are reluctant to help federal officials detain immigrants who are in the United States illegally.
Friday’s stagnation over unemployment benefits stagnation was not the long delay of the bill. A day earlier, Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, forced the House Clerks to read aloud the entire 628-page relief bill, a grueling task that lasted nearly 11 hours.
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She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.