WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats agreed Friday to withdraw emergency unemployment benefits, but extend them for another month, and bid to show support as the Senate approaches a voting marathon on a $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
The deal came as the House worked to approve a final version of the massive package, likely over the weekend, of President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority. This would give the House time to pass the legislation and send it to Biden to sign.
First, the Senate was preparing to vote on a number of amendments, mostly from Republican Party opponents. Virtually all are doomed to fail, but they are designed to force Democrats to vote politically uncomfortable.
Among them, however, was a Democratic plan that was expected to pass and cut the $ 400 weekly emergency unemployment benefits from the House bill.
Under the commitment, these payments, which must be paid in addition to the normal state benefits, would be reduced to $ 300, but would run an extra month until September. Taxes on unemployment benefits would also be reduced. A Democratic Senate aide provided details of the agreement on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
Biden and Senate leaders had agreed Wednesday to maintain the $ 400 top version of the House bill. The reduction to $ 300 seemed to reflect the need to secure support for the general bill, especially from moderate Democrats.
Republicans attack the bill as a Liberal spending party that ignores the growing number of vaccinations and signs of a turbulent economy suggesting twin crises are easing.
“Our country is already poised for a strong recovery,” said Mitch McConnell, Senate minority leader R-Ky, citing in part an unexpectedly strong report on job creation. “Democrats inherited a tide that was already turning.”
Democrats reject this, citing the 10 million jobs the economy has lost during the pandemic and many people are still struggling to buy food and pay rent.
“If you just look at a large number, you say,‘ Oh, everything is getting a little better, ’” said Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader, DN.Y. “It’s not for the lower half of America. It’s not. “
In an encouraging sign for Biden, a survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 70% of Americans supported his treatment of the pandemic, including a notable 44% of Republicans.
Moments after the Senate passed legislation Thursday, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Forced House secretaries to read aloud the entire 628-page measure. The grueling task lasted 10 hours and 44 minutes for employees and ended shortly after 2 a.m. EST, with Johnson sitting alternately at his desk and strolling around the mostly empty room.
Democratic leaders made more than a dozen late additions to their package Thursday. This reflected his need to consolidate the unanimous support of all his senators, in addition to the tiebreaker vote of Vice President Kamala Harris, to succeed in the 50-50 split chamber.
The Senate’s 51-50 votes to begin debating the package, with Harris pushing Democrats over, underscored how they navigated the package through Congress with virtually no margin for error. In the House, their majority is just 10 votes.
The bill, aimed at fighting the killer virus and restoring the health of the tiered economy, will provide direct payments of up to $ 1,400 to most Americans. There is also money for COVID-19 vaccines and testing, aid to state and local governments, aid for schools and the airline industry, tax credits for low-income people and families with children, and health insurance grants. .
The new provisions offer attractive elements for all kinds of Democrats. Progressives earned money to boost food programs, federal subsidies for health care for losing workers, tax-free student loans, and money for public broadcasting and consumer protection research.
Moderates earned funds for rural health care, language ensured minimum amounts of money for smaller states, and a ban on states receiving aid using discounts to reduce taxes. And for everyone there was money for infrastructure, cultural spaces, start-ups and after-school programs.
The latest changes left House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, tasked with keeping the many progressives in her House on board. The Liberals were already suffering a severe blow when their No. 1 priority, an increase in the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour that was included in the House package, was ripped from the Senate bill to violate the rules of the House. the chamber and for lack of support from the moderates.
In another negotiation that satisfied the moderates, Biden and Senate Democrats agreed Wednesday to tighten requirements for direct checks on people. The new provision completely eliminates payments of $ 1,400 for people earning at least $ 80,000 and couples earning $ 160,000, well below the original ceilings.
Congress wants to send the bill to Biden before March 14, when a preliminary round of emergency benefits for people expelled from the pandemic expires.
Johnson told reporters he was forcing the reading of the bill to “shed light on this abusive and obscene amount of money. “On Friday morning Schumer praised the employees who worked late as ‘the unknown heroes of this place’ and said of Johnson, ‘I hope you enjoyed Thursday evening.’
The economic recovery began to slow in late last year as the virus increased, causing a recruitment deficit in recent months. The Labor Department said Friday that the economy added 379,000 jobs last month, indicating an unexpected strength as virus cases decline and consumers increase spending, though there is still a long way to go. way to fully recover the country’s labor market.
The supportive Congressional Budget Office estimates that economic growth will exceed 4% this year without the Biden bailout package. Republicans cite that, as proof, the economy is heading upward, but Democrats say a strong economic stimulus is still needed to prevent a relapse.
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Associated Press writers Josh Boak, Alexandra Jaffe and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.