Newsman: Senate Democrats just have approved a budget resolution early morning today that will allow them to pass coronavirus relief without GOP support. It’s the first step for being able to pass a subsequent coronavirus relief bill that can bypass the 60-vote legislative filibuster in the Senate. But it now bounces back to the House where lawmakers will need to pass it for a second time as soon as Friday as senators made changes to the resolution. The budget passed the Senate in a 50-50 party-line vote with Vice President Harris breaking the tie.
Democrats now have to craft and negotiate the coronavirus legislation. If they try to pass a bill without GOP support, they’ll need near-universal support from House Democrats and every vote of the 50-member Senate Democratic caucus. There are already signs that Democrats, particularly in the Senate, are going to be pushing for changes. Because of the tight margin, any one Democratic senator will have leverage to shape the final coronavirus relief proposal or withhold the support needed to pass it without help from Republicans. senators in a 99-1 vote signaled that they support more tightly targeting the next round of stimulus checks to ensure that high-income Americans don’t get direct payments. The amendment didn’t specify how eligibility for the checks should be more targeted. A bipartisan group of senators also signaled support for limiting the federal unemployment benefit to $300 per week.
The White House has indicated that Biden is sticking with the $1,400 amount for the checks but is willing to negotiate on eligibility.
The budget resolution doesn’t get signed into law, but “We have moved forward. Many bipartisan amendments were adopted. …This was a giant first step,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said after the vote. “We will keep working as hard as we can to pass this legislation through the House, through the Senate as we go through the reconciliation process and hopefully put it on the president’s desk.”
The budget resolution effectively a shell bill authorizes a $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill and includes instructions to congressional committees on drafting the legislation under reconciliation, the tool Democrats are using to sideline Republicans in the Senate.
President Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion plan that includes a $1,400 direct stimulus payment, a $400 per week federal unemployment benefit, $350 billion for state and local governments, a minimum wage hike to $15 per hour and more money for things like childcare, schools and vaccine distribution.
A group of 10 Republicans met with Biden earlier this week to discuss coronavirus relief. The group has pitched a $618 billion proposal.
Biden’s proposal doesn’t specify the income levels for receiving payments, but previous proposals drew scrutiny because while it increased the check from $600 to $1,400, it didn’t change the structure for phasing out the payments for individuals who made more than $75,000 or couples who made more than $150,000. That meant high-income earners who were previously not eligible could have received a check.
Democrats say they want to have GOP input – and support – for the eventual coronavirus bill. Butthere is no signal from the GOP senator that they would support spending an additional $1.9 trillion on coronavirus relief at this point after Congress passed a $900 billion coronavirus relief package late last year.
The Senate’s approval of the budget resolution followed an hours-long vote-a-rama where senators forced votes on dozens of amendments, which started around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday and ended at 5:30 a.m. on Friday. Under the rules of the free-wheeling session, any senator who wants an amendment vote can get an amendment vote.
