After working all night on a mountain of amendments (almost all Republican and rejected), dark-eyed senators approved the extensive package in a party line vote between 50 and 49. This sets the final approval by Congress by the House next week so lawmakers can send it to Biden for signature.
“We tell the American people that aid is on the way,” said Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader, DN.Y. Citing the country’s desire to return to normalcy, he added: “Our job now is to help our country move from this stormy present to this hopeful future.”
The huge package – its total cost is almost a tenth the size of the entire US economy – is Biden’s first highest priority. It is his formula for dealing with the deadly virus and a lame economy, twin crises that have plagued the country for a year.
Saturday’s vote was also a crucial political moment for Biden and Democrats, who need nothing less than party unanimity in a 50- to 50-year-old Senate because of Vice President Kamala Harris ’tiebreaker vote. They also have a meager 10-vote advantage in the House.
A small but fundamental band of moderate Democrats took advantage of changes in the bill that infuriated progressives, which did not make it easier for President Nancy Pelosi, D-California, to steer the measure through the House. But the rejection of his first signing bill was not an option for Democrats, who face two years trying to run Congress with virtually no margin for error.
The bill provides direct payments of up to $ 1,400 for most Americans, expanded emergency unemployment benefits, and large amounts of spending on COVID-19 vaccines and testing, states and cities, schools, and industries. who suffer, in addition to tax credits to help people on lower incomes, families with children and consumers who buy health insurance.
SEE ALSO: What it is, is not in the Senate version of the COVID-19 relief bill
The package faced strong opposition from Republicans, who call the package a futile expense for Democratic Liberal allies ignoring recent indications that the pandemic and the economy could be turning the corner.
“The Senate has never spent $ 2 trillion more randomly,” said Mitch McConnell, Senate minority leader R-Ky. Of Democrats, he said, “His top priority was not the pandemic relief. It was his Washington wish list.”
The Senate began a dreaded “tone vote,” a continuous series of votes on amendments, shortly before midnight on Friday, and in the end had dispensed with about three dozen. The Senate had been in session since 9 a.m. EST on Friday.
During the night, the camera was like an experiment with the best techniques for staying awake. Several lawmakers appeared to rest their eyes or sleep on their desks, often burying their faces in their hands. At one point, Senator Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, 48, one of the youngest senators, trotted into the chamber and made a long stretch.
The move follows five previous measures for a total of about $ 4 trillion that Congress has enacted since last spring and comes amid signs of a possible change.
SEE ALSO: Could it be this final package with stimulus controls?
Vaccine supply is increasing, deaths and case loads have been reduced, but they remain frighteningly high, and recruitment was surprisingly strong last month, although the economy remains 10 million jobs lower at pre-pandemic levels.
The Senate package was repeatedly delayed as Democrats made eleven-hour shifts aimed at balancing the demands of their moderate, progressive factions.
Work on the bill came to a halt on Friday after the agreement between Democrats on the extension of emergency unemployment benefits appeared to collapse. Nearly 12 hours later, the top Democrats and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, perhaps the most conservative Democrat in the House, said they had an agreement and the Senate approved it in a 50-49 vote on the party line. .
Under his commitment, weekly emergency checks would be renewed for $ 300 (in addition to the usual state benefits), with the final payment made on October 6th. There would also be tax breaks on some of these payments, which would help people in the pandemic who were abruptly expelled from jobs and risky tax penalties for benefits.
The House Relief Bill, largely similar to the Senate bill, provided weekly benefits of $ 400 through August. Current $ 300 weekly payments expire on March 14, and Democrats want the bill on Biden’s desk by then to avoid a lapse.
Manchin and Republicans have claimed that higher unemployment benefits discourage returning to work, a reason most Democrats and many economists reject.
That agreement on unemployment benefits was not the only movement that showed the influence of moderates.
The Senate voted Friday to oust a House-approved federal minimum wage increase to $ 15 an hour in 2025, a major defeat for progressives. Eight Democrats opposed the increase, suggesting Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., And other progressives who pledge to continue the effort in the coming months will face a tough fight.
Party leaders also agreed to restrict eligibility for the $ 1,400 stimulus checks that will go to most Americans. That amount would be gradually reduced until, according to the Senate bill, it reaches zero for people earning $ 80,000 and couples earning $ 160,000. These amounts were higher in the House version.
Many of the Republican Party’s rejected amendments were attempts to force Democrats to cast politically uncomfortable votes or for Republicans to show their zeal for issues that attract their voters.
These included defeated efforts to prevent the bill’s education funds from going to schools closed by the pandemic that would not reopen or allow male-born transgender students to participate in women’s sports. An amendment would have blocked aid to so-called sanctuary cities, where local authorities are concerned about helping federal officials illegally gather immigrants in the United States.
Friday’s lockout on unemployment benefits wasn’t the long delay on the bill. A day earlier, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Forced House secretaries to read aloud the entire 628-page relief law, a tiring task that lasted nearly 11 hours.
Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
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