Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday that the Senate will take over President biden$ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill “as early as tonight.” Schumer countered Republican arguments that the bill was too big, saying the package was necessary to get the economy back on track.
“It doesn’t matter what’s in the bill,” Schumer said in a Senate speech on Wednesday. “All my colleagues are opposed to is ‘a liberal wish list’. That’s what many of them call it. Well, let me say, this project is not a liberal wish list. This is an American wish list. “
Even if the Senate is going to approve the bill soon, the package details are still being negotiated. Mr. Biden and moderate Democratic senators closed a deal on Wednesday to limit eligibility for direct stimulus checks to Americans, reducing the level of income for those who would be eligible to receive payments, according to a Democratic source.
The Senate is using the budgetary reconciliation process to approve the bill, which limits debate time and allows legislation to be passed by a simple majority, without Republican votes. Schumer already expressed confidence on Tuesday that the bill will pass the Senate this week with the support of his entire bench.
“We want to get the biggest, strongest and boldest bill that can pass. And that is what we are working on,” Schumer told reporters on Tuesday. “We will have the votes that we need to approve the project.”
The Senate is divided equally, and Vice President Kamala Harris gives the tiebreaker vote, which means that all 50 Democratic senators will need to support the bill in order to pass it. Republicans criticized the bill’s size and punished Democrats for using the budget reconciliation process to allow the bill to pass without bipartisan support. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell argued in a speech to the Senate floor on Tuesday that Democrats had chosen a “completely partisan route” to approve the aid package.
Under the rules of the budgetary reconciliation process, the debate on the bill will be limited to 20 hours. This will be followed by a “vote-a-rama” later this week, in which the Senate will vote on a series of amendments to the bill. Traditionally, the minority party has used a “vote-a-rama” to put political pressure on the majority when trying to pass controversial amendments. However, most amendments introduced by the minority party fail, as an amendment requires a simple majority of votes to be added to the bill.
Senator Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said he would introduce an amendment to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour. Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden and Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee chairman Patty Murray will join Sanders to offer the amendment.
“I intend to offer the law that will raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour and we will see how the votes go,” Sanders told reporters on Monday. “But let me be very clear: if we fail in this legislation, I will be back. We will continue and, if 10 votes are needed, we will raise that minimum wage soon.”
A minimum wage increase clause has been included in the initial relief account, but the Senate parliamentarian decided last week it could not be included in the “Byrd rule”, which requires that the provisions included in a bill approved by reconciliation be related to the budget. The House passed the relief bill including the provision of the minimum wage last week.
It is unclear whether Sanders’ amendment will reach the limit to pass, as Democratic senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have expressed concern about raising the minimum wage to $ 15. If the amendment passes, Republicans can raise a point of order against it, since the parliamentarian decided that the inclusion of such a provision would violate the rules of budgetary reconciliation. Harris, in his role as president of the Senate, could reject the point of order.
A group of progressive lawmakers sent a letter to Biden and Harris on Monday, urging Harris to reject any points of order put forward by the Republicans, which would invalidate the MP’s decision. Republicans could then try to challenge Harris’ decision, but it would take 60 votes to revoke it.
“Byrd’s outdated and complex rule, rooted in restricting progress, should not be an impediment to improving people’s lives. You have the authority to offer a raise to millions of Americans,” the letter said.