WASHINGTON (AP) – Republicans have come together strongly against the Democrats ‘$ 1.9 trillion bill from the Democrats’ COVID-19 relief bill while lawmakers awaited a decision by the Senate parliamentarian that could reinforce or potentially kill a fundamental provision that raises the federal minimum wage.
Despite their small majority in Congress, Democratic leaders were ready to push the sweeping package through the House on Friday. They expected the Senate, where the changes seem likely, to do so quickly enough to have legislation on President Joe Biden’s desk in mid-March.
At the end of Wednesday, no Republicans in either chamber had publicly said they would support the legislation. Republican Party leaders were stepping up attacks on the package as a job killer that does very little to reopen schools or closed businesses due to the coronavirus pandemic and that was not only a waste, but also unscrupulous.
“I have not yet seen a Republican who has found something to agree with,” said minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “I think all Republicans believe in three simple things: they want a bill that puts us back to work, school and health. This law is very expensive, very corrupt and very liberal. “
The hardening of the opposition suggested that Biden’s first major legislative initiative could encounter unanimous Republican opposition. That was a counterpoint to the refrain of the new president during his campaign to unite the country and a repetition of the republican wall that new president Barack Obama faced in 2009 and in most of his government.
Democrats showed no signs of backing down, citing the assistance the measure would spread to people, businesses and state and local governments.
“If Republican congressmen want to oppose all of this, my answer is: good luck,” said Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., at the Senate floor.
On Wednesday night, the biggest suspense was about an early decision by Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate’s non-partisan arbiter of her rules, which promised huge political and legislative consequences.
The relief bill includes a clause that in five years would raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour. The congressman is involved because Democrats are passing the $ 1.9 trillion general measure in Congress under special rules that will allow them to avoid an obstruction in the Senate by Republicans.
These same rules prohibit provisions that have only an “incidental” impact on the federal budget because they are mainly driven by other policy purposes. The parliamentarian decides whether a provision passes that test.
With Republicans strongly opposed to raising the minimum wage, the only way to survive is to include it in an obstruction-proof bill, such as the COVID-19 relief measure. To end an obstruction, Democrats would need 60 votes, an impossibility for them in the Senate divided equally by 50-50.
If the parliamentarian decides that the minimum wage provision can remain in the bill, that would be a great incentive for its proponents. But there would be no guarantee that the measure would survive because some moderates oppose it or want it to be canceled. This suggests that an exhaustive negotiation on its final form is yet to come.
The parliamentarian’s decision that the minimum wage increase should fall from the bill can be fatal, but not necessarily. Democrats could employ a procedural move rarely used to insert the minimum wage clause into the bill with only 51 votes, but it was unclear whether they would be able to muster enough support to do so.
The minimum wage has been at $ 7.25 since 2009. Winning the raise is a priority for progressives at a time when Democrats control Congress and the White House.
The general account would provide millions of Americans with direct payments of $ 1,400 to help them overcome the pandemic that paralyzed much of the economy for a year and killed half a million people. It contains billions of dollars for COVID-19 vaccines and tests, schools, state and local governments and emergency benefits for the unemployed, while providing tax cuts or payments to many families with children.
In a sign of tough politics ahead, leading Republicans suggested that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. And Schumer, inject money into the account of their own states.
McCarthy said the project has $ 100 million to help extend the San Francisco area’s BART urban train system south to San Jose. This project was previously approved by the Trump administration and is not in the San Francisco district of Pelosi, said a senior Democratic aide.
McCarthy and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Suggested that Schumer earned money for a bridge linking upstate New York to Canada. A senior Democratic aide said the project contains $ 1.5 million for the bridge, which is in the Rep. Elise Stefanik district, RN.Y. The aide said he was asked in 2020 by the Trump administration’s Department of Transportation, headed by McConnell’s wife Elaine Chao.