Chuck Schumer, minority leader in the US Senate, accompanied by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, will speak with reporters at the US 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 is expected to become days of debate and political deals in and around the Senate.
The House, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Early Saturday voted largely in line with party lines to advance the massive relief plan, which includes extensions to programs designed to help millions of unemployed Americans and provide financial support to national and local authorities.
With the bill proposing a 50-50 split in the Senate between Democrats and Republicans, lawmakers will begin next week offering amendments to the House’s plan and likely approve a different version of the bill they received.
Should that happen, the House will have to approve the Senate’s version or the two houses will meet to draft a final, pleasant draft in a conference committee. Democrats are rushing to send the bill to Biden’s office by March 14, when unemployment benefits expire.
In advocating for the legislation, Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., emphasized on Thursday that millions of Americans are in economic hardship.
“This is an economic and health crisis that only occurs once in a century,” he wrote on Twitter. “But Republican leaders are reportedly ‘maneuvering’ to get every Republican member to oppose urgent, daring COVID aid.”
“Make no mistake,” he added, “we will deliver the American bailout with overwhelming public support.”
Democrats have a thin majority in both the House and Senate and chose to try to push through Biden’s stimulus plan through a process known as budget reconciliation. Reconciliation allows a party to pass a bill by a simple majority vote, 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 their bill with a federal minimum wage of $ 15 an hour, the Senate MP decided on Thursday that the pay increase cannot be included in a bill under reconciliation.
The MP’s ruling underscores the fragility of the bill’s composition in the Senate, where even one democratic no could damn Biden’s first major piece of legislation.
Party leadership will likely focus on mid-way Democrats, such as Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who are more likely to oppose amenities they see as expensive or unnecessary.
Manchin already had doubts about the fate of additional stimulation controls on January 8, prior to Biden’s inauguration.
The Conservative Democrat said he would be “absolutely” against a new round of direct payments, but later clarified in a tweet, writing, “If the next round of stimulus checks go out, they should be targeting those who need it.”
Others, like Vermont’s independent Bernie Sanders, have instead doubled down on their commitment to progressive priorities like the $ 15 minimum wage increase.
He and Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Are working to amend the bill that would penalize large companies that pay their employees less than $ 15 an hour.
CNBC’s Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report.