Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Virus Bill Blocked in Senate as Prospects Dim for New Relief
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
September 10, 2020

Share

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats scuttled a scaled-back GOP coronavirus rescue package on Thursday as the parties argued to a standstill over the size and scope of the aid, likely ending hopes for coronavirus relief before the November election.

The mostly party-line vote capped weeks of wrangling that gave way to election-season political combat and name-calling over a fifth relief bill that all sides say they want but are unable to deliver. The bipartisan spirit that powered earlier aid measures is all but gone.

Democrats said the measure shortchanged too many pressing needs. Republicans argued it was targeted to areas of widespread agreement, but the 52-47 vote fell well short of what was needed to overcome a filibuster. All the present Democrats opposed it, while conservative Rand Paul, R-Ky., cast the only GOP “nay” vote. The Democratic vice presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, was campaigning in Miami and missed the vote.

“It’s a sort of a dead end street, and very unfortunate,” said Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan. “But it is what it is.”

The $500 billion measure is roughly half the size of legislation promoted by Republican leaders this summer. But that version was too big for most conservatives, so the GOP bill was instead stripped back to focus on school aid, jobless benefits and help for small businesses. That maximized Republican support even as it alienated Democrats, who say such a piecemeal approach would leave out far too many vulnerable people.

The result was a predictable impasse and partisan tit-for tat as the congressional session limps to its pre-election close. The panicked atmosphere that drove passage of the $2 trillion landmark CARES Act in March has dissipated as the nation powers through the pandemic with partial reopenings of businesses and schools, though the economy lags and the virus continues to badly disrupt life in the U.S.

It’s becoming plain that all Congress will do before the Nov. 3 election is pass legislation to avert a government shutdown. The outcome of the election promises to have an outsize impact on what might be possible in a postelection lame-duck session, with Democrats sure to press for a better deal if Democrat Joe Biden unseats President Donald Trump.

Photo of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks after meeting with Senate Republicans, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

There’s No Indication Yet That Bipartisan Talks That Crumbled Last Month Will Restart

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., predicted that Thursday’s GOP defeat would prompt Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., back to the negotiating table, as an earlier filibuster in March helped make the $2 trillion rescue bill more generous.

“But (Thursday’s) bill is not going to happen because it is so emaciated, so filled with poison pills, so partisanly designed,” Schumer said.

McConnell crafted the measure to permit his GOP colleagues to go on record in favor of popular provisions such as another round of “paycheck protection” help for smaller businesses, help for schools to reopen and supplemental jobless benefits. He again blasted Democrats on Thursday, saying they are still pushing a liberal wish list and are willing to scuttle provisions with widespread backing to deny Trump a victory.

“Today every senator will either say they want to send families the relief we can agree to or they can send families nothing,” McConnell said.

There’s no indication yet that bipartisan talks that crumbled last month will restart. Top lawmakers and aides offered glum assessments both publicly and privately.

Veteran Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley said it’s “sad” there will be no virus aid deal, though he also said the outlook for the economy may not be as bleak as he once thought.

“If you’d asked me, two or three weeks ago I’d say very, very negative,” Grassley said. But with the job market improving and “the whole world kind of getting out of this pandemic, depression, we’re in” Grassley said, there’s “a lot less of an impact than I would have thought two weeks ago.”

Photo of Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., speaks during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The Failed Measure Would Have Provide $105 Billion To Help Schools Reopen

The stalemate is politically risky for all sides heading into the fall election, and both sides accused the other of acting primarily with political calculations in mind. Democrats said GOP senators need to “check a box” and vote on any kind of relief bill before exiting Washington to campaign while Republicans said Democrats were intent on denying Republicans a political win.

“What is of overwhelming importance to Democrats is keeping coronavirus alive as a political issue,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. “They’d rather have no bill, zero funding and a political weapon than have a bill and allow Republicans to say that we helped Americans.”

All that’s left — barring a breakthrough that looks unlikely now — is to pass a government-wide short-term spending measure that would avert a shutdown at month’s end and set up a postelection lame-duck session to deal with any unfinished Capitol Hill legislation, which could include coronavirus relief.

The scaled-back GOP virus plan is roughly one-seventh the size of a whopping Democratic package that passed the house in May and about one-fourth of the $2.2 trillion set by Pelosi last month. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin mentioned a $1.5 trillion figure in testimony last week.

The failed measure would have provide $105 billion to help schools reopen, created a scaled-back $300-per-week supplemental jobless benefit, and devoted $258 billion for a second round of paycheck protection subsidies for smaller businesses. Lesser amounts would have furthered vaccine research and development and funded the Postal Service, farmers, and child care.

It did not contain a new round of $1,200 direct payments to Americans, and the new $300 weekly jobless benefit would expire just after Christmas, on Dec. 27. The GOP bill also lacked money for election costs that lawmakers from both parties have supported to accommodate a huge influx of mail-in ballots.

DON'T MISS

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

DON'T MISS

Canadian School Boards Sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for Disrupting Students’ Education

DON'T MISS

California Law Enforcement Agencies Obstruct Transparency Efforts in Use-of-Force Cases

DON'T MISS

No Police Charges for Taylor Swift’s Dad Over Paparazzi Incident in Sydney

DON'T MISS

Biden Administration to Lend $1.5B to Restart Michigan Nuclear Power Plant, a First in the US

DON'T MISS

Tonight’s Biden Fundraiser With Obama and Clinton Already Nets a Record $25 Million

DON'T MISS

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

DON'T MISS

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

DON'T MISS

Police Had About 90 Seconds to Stop Traffic Before Baltimore Bridge Fell. 6 Workers Are Feared Dead

DON'T MISS

NBC Has Cut Ties With Former RNC Head Ronna McDaniel After Employee Objections, Some on the Air

No data was found

Facebook News Tab Will Soon Be Unavailable as Meta Scales Back News and Political Content

8 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Rises to More Records to Close Out Its Latest Winning Month

9 hours ago

A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

9 hours ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

9 hours ago

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

9 hours ago

Biden’s Fundraiser with Obama and Clinton Nets a Record $25 Million, His Campaign Says

10 hours ago

Fresno Unified’s Self-Protection Racket Is Hurting Our Kids

10 hours ago

Rockin’ Out or Laughing, the Valley Has Its Pick of Weekend Events

11 hours ago

Ex-Correctional Officer at Women’s Prison in California Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Inmates

13 hours ago

Caitlin Clark and Iowa Draw Nearly 5 Million Viewers for Second-Round NCAA Win

13 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Riverside Golf Course Introduces Military Veterans to the Game

PGA HOPE, now underway at Fresno’s Riverside Golf Course, is designed to introduce golf to veterans and active duty military members t...

7 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Fresno's Riverside Golf Course
7 hours ago

PGA HOPE at Riverside Golf Course Introduces Military Veterans to the Game

8 hours ago

Cronenworth’s Big Hit Helps Lift the Padres to a 6-4 Win Over Melvin’s Giants

8 hours ago

Shohei Ohtani Reaches 3 Times in Home Debut as the Dodgers Rout the Cardinals 7-1

8 hours ago

Facebook News Tab Will Soon Be Unavailable as Meta Scales Back News and Political Content

9 hours ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Rises to More Records to Close Out Its Latest Winning Month

9 hours ago

A Fresno County First: Kerman Council Passes Amended Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution

9 hours ago

UN Top Court Orders Israel to Open More Land Crossings for Aid into Gaza

9 hours ago

How Involved Is Southern California Consulting Firm in FUSD Executive Dealings?

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend