The Daily Beast
Senate approves $ 1.9 trillion COVID relief bill after heated debate all night
CSPANThe number one item on the Democrats’ agenda this year – a comprehensive coronavirus aid package – overcame its biggest obstacle on the way to becoming law: the equally divided US Senate. On Saturday afternoon, the Senate passed the $ 1.9 trillion bill in a strictly partisan vote: all 50 Democrats voted in favor of the bill and all 49 Republicans opposed it, but Senator Dan Sullivan ( R-AK) did not attend the vote, saving Vice President Kamala Harris from breaking the tie. The Chamber must now approve the new version of the bill in a separate vote before it can become law. The process shouldn’t have been easy, but the bill’s journey to approval has been completely messed up, even by Congressional standards. The Senate has been in session for more than 24 hours, voting, debating and considering amendments to the gigantic legislation. Much of the delay resulted from a member, centrist senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), whose reservations about the project’s unemployment insurance unexpectedly froze the floor for nearly 12 hours on Friday, while the Democratic leadership and the White House they worked frantically with him to support the latest business. Damsel and Dems play good cop-bad cop at COVID ReliefManchin has finally agreed to the party’s preferred amendment to the unemployment plan, which reduces monthly unemployment benefits to $ 300, but extends them for another month. However, he also supported a Republican Party plan to keep the benefits at $ 400, but cut them in June – an amendment that was passed but will be replaced by the Democratic plan, advisers said. The project includes: Stimulus checks up to $ 1,400 for hundreds of millions of American adults and children. $ 300 weekly jobless allowance until September 6. Child tax credit of up to $ 3,600 per child. US $ 130 billion for the reopening of schools. $ 350 billion for state and local governments. $ 30 billion in assistance to tenants and homeowners. $ 50 billion for small businesses. $ 160 billion for vaccine development. President Joe Biden said on Saturday afternoon that he expected stimulus checks to be released this month. He called the approval “another giant step forward” in fulfilling his promise to get help for the Americans, and credited the Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer (D-NY), for overcoming it. “When the country needed you most, Chuck, you led,” he said. From midnight to noon on Saturday, Republicans called for votes on a long series of amendments to the project, almost all of which failed, but largely aimed at exerting political pressure on Democrats. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), for example, introduced an amendment that would have denied federal funding to any K-12 colleges and schools that would allow transgender girls to play on women’s sports teams – an issue that became increasingly important to Republicans last month after Biden signed an executive order directing colleges to allow transgender girls to play. The amendment ended up failing by 50-49, with Manchin breaking with his party to vote in favor and the Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) breaking with hers to vote against. Shortly after, Republicans tried and failed to insert another amendment that would have barred C relief money OVID to finance elective abortions and insurance plans that cover them. They also used the amendment party to incite Democrats about immigration, forcing a vote to deny stimulus checks to undocumented immigrants. In the midst of hard work, Senate Democrats projected sunshine and positivity for legislation they believe to be sorely needed and also widely popular with the public, despite the Republican Party’s lack of support. “We have been successful all night, for about 12 hours, in combating all kinds of problems of cultural war, all kinds of problems that take money out of the pockets of low-income people, all kinds of problems that they are accepting this is weakening this bill, ”said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on MSNBC on Saturday morning. “This is the biggest thing that most of us have been involved in … I don’t remember being so excited about this job.” The so-called American Rescue Plan still faces more obstacles on its way to Biden’s table, however, and the legislative drama may not be over yet. The Democratic-controlled United States House passed its version of the relief bill last week, and has a lot in common with Senate legislation: both offer hundreds of billions of dollars to speed up vaccine launches, sustain finances of state and local governments and to give people who struggle a financial lifeline with direct checks and unemployment insurance. But the Senate bill is different in some important ways, which means that the House will have to vote again to approve these changes before the legislation can be sent to Biden. The House bill kept unemployment insurance at $ 400 and also lacked the rigid eligibility requirements to receive $ 1,400 stimulus checks that emerged after an agreement between the Senate and the White House. This move puts about 12 million fewer people in line to receive benefits. Notably, the Senate bill lacks a fundamental House clause to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15, after the Senate nonpartisan enforcer said it did not comply with the specific rules for accelerated legislation that Democrats are using to help speed up the bill for Biden’s desk. Democrats want Biden’s signature on the bill to dry before March 14, when the current unemployment pandemic benefits expire for millions of Americans. The House’s progressives, who fought for a $ 15 salary and expansive benefits, are inclined to support anything the Senate sends them – but some have found their limits tested by Manchin’s power game and moderates. Commenting on the changes in the Chamber’s project, deputy. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) asked on Twitter: “What are we doing here? I am frankly disgusted with some of my colleagues and question whether I can support this project. ”Dems’ two complicated steps: first COVID relief, then a pay rise. Internal Democratic negotiation was not the only reason the march was in fact The deadline is closer than many Democrats would like. Fierce Republican opposition slowed: On Thursday, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) forced Senate officials to read every word of the nearly 700-page bill out loud – an exercise in crude obstructionism that delayed consideration of the bill’s chamber in more than 10 hours. Although previous COVID relief iterations were largely bipartisan, Republicans have come together to oppose Biden’s first major legislative effort, claiming it is too expensive, not targeted enough for the most needy people and full of so-called “bailouts” blue state funds “to local governments, although many jurisdictions administered by Republicans receive aid funds. Just before the voting wave, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) placed the burden on Democrats by breaking the “bipartisan tide” of pandemic relief. “They are determined to force an ideological spending spree full of policies unrelated to COVID,” he accused. Democrats explained their lack of support from the Republican Party by frequently citing public opinion polls showing that a bipartisan majority of Americans supported their plan. A Morning Consult / POLITICO poll on Wednesday found that 77 percent of all voters, and more than half of Republican voters, supported the plan, even when it was labeled as a Democratic proposal. A triumphant Schumer said just before Saturday’s vote that “this project will provide more help to more people than anything the federal government has done in decades.” “A new day has come and we say to the American people: help is coming. on the way, “said Schumer.” Help is on the way. ”- with additional reporting by Emily ShugermanRead more at The Daily Beast.Receive our top stories in your inbox every day. Subscribe now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper into the stories that matter to you. Know more.