WASHINGTON – Democrats took another step on Thursday to approve a new round of relief from Covid by initiating a “vote-a-rama” in the Senate, a long, but mostly symbolic series of votes on a myriad of issues .
It happens when President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders come together in an effort to get more aid, even without Republican support, moving forward with a $ 1.9 trillion package that includes $ 1,400 checks.
The raw vote is just a procedural element that will allow Democrats to bypass the 60 vote limit for a bill. The process should continue until the early hours of Friday.
The resolution of the budget is not binding, which means that it does not carry the weight of the law. The extended series of votes will be on amendments, which will be designed to test support for lawmakers on a variety of issues, but will not affect US policy or law, regardless of whether they are passed.
In the 50-50 chamber of the Senate, Democrats are likely to need the vote of Vice President Kamala Harris to break ties in the amendments into which parties are divided equally.
In the past, the process was used as an opportunity for the minority party to force the majority to obtain difficult votes that can be used politically against them in the next elections.
“The amendment process here today will be bipartisan and will be open and vigorous,” said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., on Thursday in a speech before the vote began. “Both Democrats and Republicans will have an opportunity to share their ideas and that is welcome.”
Schumer promised that Congress would not “think small in the face of big problems”.
“We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past,” he said. “We cannot do very little. We cannot block our country in a long and slow recovery.”
Republicans said they are planning to offer amendments to support the Keystone pipeline, illegally stop stimulus payments to US immigrants and ban Covid-19 funds for schools that do not reopen after their teachers are vaccinated.
“We are going to put the senators on the register,” said Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “We’ll see what this resolution looks like on the other side – and what signals the Democrats send to the American people along the way.”
