U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on July 29, 2020.
Erin Scott | Reuters
The House of Representatives approved President Joe Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package, which was expected to be days of debate and political agreement in and around the Senate.
The House, headed by President Nancy Pelosi, D-California, voted heavily on the party line early Saturday to advance the massive relief plan, which includes program extensions designed to help millions in the north. -Unemployed Americans and provides financial support to state and local governments.
With the bill planned for a 50-50 Senate split between Democrats and Republicans, lawmakers will begin next week to propose amendments to the House plan and will likely pass a different version of the bill they received.
Should this happen, the House will have to approve the Senate version or both houses will have to meet to draft a final and pleasing draft in a conference committee. Democrats are rushing to send the bill to the Biden counter on March 14, when unemployment benefits are expected to expire.
In defending the legislation, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., stressed Thursday that millions of Americans remain in a terrible economic situation.
“This is an economic and health crisis once a century,” he wrote on Twitter. “But Republican leaders are ‘maneuvering’ to get every Republican member to oppose an urgent and bold relief from COVID.”
“Don’t be fooled,” he added, “we will deliver the American Rescue Plan with overwhelming public support.”
Democrats have few majorities in both the House and Senate and chose to try to pass Biden’s stimulus plan through a process known as budget reconciliation. Reconciliation allows a party to pass a bill with a simple majority of votes, but limits what can be included in the bill to those items that have a significant impact on the federal deficit.
Although the House passed its bill with a stipulation of the federal minimum wage of $ 15 per hour, the Senate MP decided Thursday that the pay rise cannot be included in any bill under conciliation.
The MP’s resolution underscores the fragility of the composition of the bill in the Senate, where even a single Democrat could condemn Biden’s first iconic legislation.
Party leadership will likely focus on Democrats halfway through, like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who are more likely to rule out provisions they consider costly or unnecessary.
Manchin questioned the fate of additional stimulus checks as early as January 8, before Biden took office.
The Conservative Democrat said he would “absolutely” oppose another round of direct payments, but later clarified in a tweet, writing, “If the next round of stimulus checks comes out, they should be targeted at those that they need it “.
Others, such as Vermont-independent Bernie Sanders, have doubled their commitment to progressive priorities such as raising the $ 15 minimum wage.
He and Senate Finance President Ron Wyden, D-Ore, are working on an amendment to the bill that would penalize large companies that pay their employees less than $ 15 an hour.
– CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.