- The Senate voted on Tuesday a budget resolution that could accelerate aid to coronavirus in Congress.
- Not a single Republican senator voted to advance the measure.
- The phrase “No Republicans” was trending on Twitter after the vote.
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Senate Republicans issued a mass rebuke to President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion bailout package, when none voted for the stimulus package Tuesday night.
In a strict party line vote, all 50 Senate Democrats voted in favor of a budget resolution to speed up the Congressional aid package without Republican support. Forty-nine Republicans voted against the resolution. Senator Patrick J. Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, did not vote because he was delayed by the snow.
The phrase “No Republicans” it was a trend on Twitter after the vote.
“We are not going to dilute, hesitate or delay,” New York senator and majority leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor. “There is nothing in the process itself that prevents bipartisanship.”
The package in question includes a round of $ 1,400 stimulus checks for most Americans, $ 350 billion for state and local governments, an increase in federal unemployment assistance to $ 400 and a proposal to raise the minimum wage federal government to $ 15, among other aids.
All four measures proved to be points of conflict between the two parties.
Republicans want checks to reach $ 1,000 and demand that they go only to people who earn less than $ 50,000 a year. They say that money for state and local governments is not necessary and has not included any local financing in their counter offer. They want current federal unemployment benefits to remain the same and continue until June. Biden’s plan is expected to be extended and extended to September. And while some Republicans support raising the federal minimum wage, few want it to reach $ 15.
The account also includes $ 130 billion to reopen schools, a major expansion of the child tax credit, $ 50 billion for the COVID-19 test and $ 20 million for a national vaccine program in partnership with states, localities and tribes.
The 50-49 vote on the progress of the package starts the budget reconciliation process in the Senate. This would allow Democrats to approve Biden’s plan with just 51 votes, instead of the 60-vote supermajority normally required of bills.
The Republican Party’s united opposition to the resolution comes after Biden received Republicans on Monday to discuss the party’s $ 618 billion counter offer.
“[Biden] was very strong in emphasizing the need for a big, bold package, “majority leader Chuck Schumer said at a news conference on Monday.” He said he told Senate Republicans that the $ 600 billion they proposed was too small. “
According to The New York Times, some Republican senators found Biden more receptive to concessions than his team or Schumer during the meeting.
“They chose a totally partisan path,” Kentucky senator and minority leader Mitch McConnell told The Times about Senate Democrats.
McConnell used reconciliation to approve the two tax cuts during his time as a majority leader. He also employed the measure in a failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Senate Democrats can pass the resolution as early as Friday.
According to the call list, the house will vote on its nearly identical measure on Wednesday, so it will have to vote again on the final adoption of the joint measure after the Senate makes additions.