Senate Democrats voted early Saturday morning to provide a $ 300 federal weekly unemployment payment until early September – effectively undoing a Republican Party effort to end those payments in mid-July.
Senators voted 50-49 to add the change to the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee Ron Wyden
Ronald (Ron) Lee WydenProgressives will not object to a bill on limits on GOP stimulus checks removing all barriers to delay COVID-19 package Health overnight: Biden beats Texas, Mississippi for lifting coronavirus restrictions: ‘Neanderthal thinking ‘| Senate panel splits along party lines in Becerra | More than 200,000 sign up for ACA plans during the special Biden sign-up period MORE (D-Ore.) About $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus bill currently being debated by the chamber.
All 50 Democratic senators vote in favor of the amendment, which provides for a weekly payment of $ 300 until September 6. All Republicans present to vote are opposed to it.
The vote came about an hour after Senate Republicans won a short-lived victory by submitting an amendment by the senator. Rob Portman
Robert (Rob) Jones PortmanMandel receives approval from the Club for Growth in the Ohio Senate primaries Rick Scott spotted among opposing factions of the Republican Party Five conclusions from the Capitol’s dramatic security by listening to MORE (R-Ohio) temporarily in the coronavirus bill. Portman’s amendment provided for a payment of $ 300 a week, but until July 18.
Republicans were able to claim the brief victory because Sen. Joe Manchin
Joseph (Joe) ManchinOvernight Defense: The Capitol Police can ask the National Guard to stay | Biden’s Pentagon Policy Nominee Faces Criticism | The aspirants of the naval navy moved to hotels. Progressives will not object to a bill on stimulus check limits. (DW.Va.), who supported the subsequent Democratic amendment, also voted in favor of Portman’s proposal.
But a Democratic aide wired in advance how the drama would unfold. There was a delay of about an hour between the votes of Portman and Wyden because Democrats were still waiting to find out the cost of their proposal.
“We hope that Senator Portman will present his UI amendment and pass it. However, it will be replaced by the new Senate Democrats UI agreement, which will be offered and approved as an amendment tonight,” said the Democratic aide before the votes. .
Both proposals are a change from the House-approved bill that would have provided a payment of $ 400 a week by the end of August.
Democrats kept the debate over the coronavirus relief bill in limbo for almost 12 hours, starting at noon on Friday, while trying to come to terms with the language of unemployment.
They initially indicated that they had a deal early Friday morning that would have provided $ 300 unemployment insurance by the beginning of October.
But as the day dragged on – and Democrats set a new record for the longest vote in the history of the modern Senate – it became obvious that Democrats were struggling to get Manchin’s support.
Because of the narrow 50-50 margin, Democrats needed the support of their entire bench to reach an agreement on the payment of unemployment in the bill. They announced their final deal, which was supported by Manchin, just before 8 pm on Friday.
In addition to paying $ 300 a week, the Democratic settlement also omits $ 10,200 in federal income tax unemployment benefits for families with an income of less than $ 150,000.
“Our goal is to ensure the strongest possible protections for unemployed Americans who could pass the Senate,” said Wyden before the vote.