US Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, January 6, 2021.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
With former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial behind them, Democrats are moving to approve another coronavirus aid package within weeks.
The Senate acquitted Trump on Saturday of inciting an insurrection against the government after five days of proceedings. Congressional chambers held by Democrats and President Joe Biden will now turn their full attention to approving a $ 1.9 trillion aid bill before major unemployment programs expire on March 14.
On Tuesday, the majority leader in the House, Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Told lawmakers to prepare to work until February 26 and the following weekend to pass the relief bill. Hakeem Jeffries, chairman of the House Democrats’ Caucus, will make calls this week with members of committee drafting the legislation, NBC News reported.
The House panels have advanced important parts of the bill, which the Budget Committee is expected to agree on in a gigantic proposal in the coming days. Congress has to go through a longer-than-normal process to approve the budgetary reconciliation plan, a tool that will allow Democrats to pass it without Republican votes in the Senate.
Possible pitfalls await Democrats as they try to pass a bill that party leaders say will speed up the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine and mitigate economic problems stemming from public health restrictions. They must comply with rules that limit what legislators can include in budget reconciliation plans.
If the party gets no support from Republicans skeptical of more spending, all Democrats in the Senate will have to commit to the bill being approved. At least two Democratic senators – Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona – expressed skepticism about parts of the plan.
Biden, who is going to Wisconsin on Tuesday for an event at CNN’s city hall, considers pandemic relief his “top priority,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday.
The aid package, as proposed by the House, would send payments of up to $ 1,400 to most Americans, add an unemployment insurance supplement of $ 400 a week and an expansion of existing unemployment insurance through August 29 and send $ 350 billion for struggling states, locations and tribes governments. It would also direct $ 20 billion to a national vaccination program and send $ 170 billion to schools and colleges for reopening costs and helping students, among a number of other provisions.
Republicans criticized the plan’s nearly $ 2 trillion price and questioned the cost of school funding and direct payments in particular. A group of Republican senators offered Biden a counterproposal of about $ 600 billion, but he considered it too small to face the crisis.
The president said he would rather approve a bigger project now than potentially be stuck in weeks or months of negotiations, just to agree on a smaller proposal.
A specific part of the House plan can make the process a challenge for Democrats. The project includes a proposal to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour by 2025.
It is not clear now whether the Senate parliamentarian will allow the measure in reconciliation. Manchin and Sinema criticized the increase in the minimum wage and may sink it even if the Senate rules allow it in the final legislation.
If the Senate passes a different bill than the House, representatives will have to meet again to pass the legislation again.
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