WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats set aside a battle to raise the minimum wage, but quickly went down to another internal struggle Friday as the party tried in parallel to move its COVID-19 relief bill of $ 1.9 trillion in the Senate.
Hours after claiming that an agreement had been reached between party moderates and progressives on the renewal of emergency unemployment benefits, lawmakers said Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., now preferred a version Republican less generous of payments.
Manchin is probably the most conservative Democrat in the House and a councilor in a 50-50-year-old Senate who leaves his party without a vote. With the Democrats ’meager majority (they only have 10 votes in the House), the party needs its vote but can’t lean too far toward the center without losing its progressive support.
The episode threw new complications at the Democrats ’push to give quick approval to a relief bill that is President Joe Biden’s main legislative goal. And while it seemed likely they would pass the bundle, the problem underscored the headaches facing party leaders. for the next two years as they try to move their agenda to Congress with such thin margins.
“People in the country are hurting right now, with less than two weeks after reducing unemployment checks,” Biden told the White House, referring to the end of March 14 of the current round of benefits. unemployment urgency. He described his bill as a “rescue clearly needed to gain control” against the pandemic.
Relief legislation, 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 package faces a solid wall of opposition to the Republican Party.
The Senate voted Thursday between 51 and 50 to begin debating the bill, prevailing only with the tiebreaker vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. That nail-biting and a series of eleven-hour bids that Democratic leaders were cutting with grassroots lawmakers reflected the delicate challenge of navigating the precariously divided chamber.
The House version of the massive relief package provides weekly unemployment benefits of $ 400 (in addition to the usual state payments) through August.
In a compromise with moderates revealed earlier Friday, Senate Democrats said it would be reduced to $ 300 a week, but that it would be extended through early October. The plan, sponsored by Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., Would also reduce taxes on unemployment benefits.
Lawmakers later said Manchin preferred an alternative to Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, that would provide weekly $ 300 profits until mid-July.
“I don’t know where he is,” Senate Democratic No. 2 leader Richard Durbin of Illinois said of Manchin’s latest stance on unemployment benefits. Asked if Democrats could simply accept the Republican Party’s version, Durbin said, “We don’t want to. We want to end this.”
This was a nod to the need for Democrats to move the general relief bill once again to the House, which has a large number of Liberals. Last weekend he passed an initial version of the legislation, which the Senate has changed since then.
Manchin has been the first voice among moderates trying to curb the costs of the relief bill. Democratic leaders were trying to reach an agreement with Manchin and his office did not return requests for comment.
“I am just sorry for Joe Manchin. I hope the Geneva Convention applies to him, “Republican Senate No. 2 leader John Thune of South Dakota told reporters about the pressure on the West Virginian.
Before the drama of unemployment benefits began, senators voted between 58 and 42 to kill a top progressive priority, a gradual increase in the current minimum hourly wage from $ 7.25 to $ 15 in five years.
Eight Democrats voted against the proposal, suggesting Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., And other progressives who promise to continue the effort in the coming months will face a tough fight.
But seven hours after that call for the minimum wage began, it had not yet formally closed, as all Senate work ceased as Democrats struggled to solve their unemployment benefit problem.
The next step would be a mountain of amendments, mostly from Republican Party opponents, virtually all destined to fail but designed to force Democrats to vote politically uncomfortable.
Republicans say the general bill is a liberal spending party that ignores the growing number of vaccinations and signs of a turbulent economy suggest that 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.
Friday’s blockade on unemployment benefits was not the first delay. On Thursday, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Forced chamber clerks to read aloud the entire 628-page relief law, a grueling task that lasted employees 10 hours and 44 minutes and ended shortly. after 2 a.m. EST.
Democrats made a number of other late changes to the bill, designed to restrict support. They ranged from extra money for food programs and federal health care grants for job-losing workers to funds for rural health care and the language that ensures minimum amounts of money for in the smaller states.
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.