The U.S. Senate passed the $1.9 trillion New Coronavirus (CCA) bailout bill on Saturday (March 6) by a party-line vote of 50 to 49.
Republican Senator Dan Sullivan left Washington on Friday (5) to attend a Family funeral, allowing Senate Democrats to pass the bill by a narrow margin.
The Senate bill, known as the “American Rescue Plan” or H.R. 1319, will need to be sent back to the House for a vote before being sent to the White House for the president’s signature, due to changes in the bill’s content. The House passed the bill on Feb. 27 by a vote of 219-212, with all Republicans and two Democrats voting against it.
The bill would distribute $1,400 checks directly to many Americans and provide $350 billion to state and local governments to cover vaccine distribution and expansion of the child tax credit, among other things.
At the same Time, the bill would provide funding for vaccines and testing for the new coronavirus, help state and local governments fight the outbreak, provide relief for businesses such as restaurants and the airline industry that have been hit by the outbreak, provide tax credits for working people with lower incomes and families with children, and provide financial assistance to small businesses, among other things.
An amendment by Democratic lawmakers to raise the hourly wage to $15 was ultimately not included in the bailout bill, with the Senate rejecting the proposal by a vote of 58 to 42, while eight Democratic lawmakers also voted against the proposal; the Democrats’ original proposal to raise the amount of weekly emergency unemployment benefits was also reduced from $400 per week to $300 per week.
Democrats see this bill as the signature bill of the Biden administration and are not only bound to push it through, but are also trying to add a leftist agenda to it.
Republicans do not support the Democrats’ bill, arguing that the bailout does not target those who really need to be bailed out and that the bill does not hear from any Republicans. They say only 9 percent of the spending is related to addressing the Epidemic, and that the timing of the release of funds is wrong, as the U.S. economy is showing a strong rebound.
The Senate currently has 50 seats for each party, even if it is a tie, as Vice President Kamala Harris holds the key vote as Senate President. For example: On Thursday afternoon (4), He officially launched Senate debate on the Biden Administration‘s landmark legislation to address the pandemic after casting a key vote for the Democrats’ bill, breaking a 50-to-50 vote deadlock.
The Senate then engaged in the longest debate in its history, more than 20 hours of debate and a marathon “vote-a-rama” that required lawmakers to vote without interruption on multiple amendments to the budget resolution.
“Senate Democrats just succeeded in passing their bloated spending bill disguised as ‘New Coronavirus Relief.’ This is the first completely partisan neo-coronavirus bill because it is not designed to help end the epidemic, but rather a blatant attempt by Democrats to shoehorn it into a partisan wish list,” Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) tweeted after the relief bill passed.
He criticized the Democrats’ passage of “this behemoth of a bill as a case of the trap of pure partisanship” and the longest vote in modern history to pass the bill.
The White House appears satisfied with the revised stimulus bill and has already said it will support it.
White House spokesman Jen Psaki told the press Friday (5) before the bill passed that the relief bill was “incredible progress” despite the Senate’s compromise.
Former President Barack Obama later tweeted Saturday, linking the bill’s passage to the election. He wrote: “When we vote for leaders across the department – who are committed to making people’s lives better – that’s progress, and it reminds us why it’s so important to vote. “
Against the backdrop of widespread vaccinations and a cooling epidemic in the U.S. and a promising strong economic recovery, Congress’ advancement of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package has led many market participants to worry about the heating up of Inflation in the U.S. economy and the overheating of the short-term boom.
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