WASHINGTON -- Senate Democratic leaders reached an agreement late Friday over unemployment benefits with moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, ending a nine-hour standoff that threatened to derail action on President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.
The agreement would extend the existing $300 weekly unemployment benefit through Sept. 6, as well as provide tax relief on benefits for households making under $150,000.
"The President has made it clear we will have enough vaccines for every American by the end of May and I am confident the economic recovery will follow. We have reached a compromise that enables the economy to re-bound quickly while also protecting those receiving unemployment benefits from being hit with an unexpected tax bill next year," Manchin said in a statement.
"Those making less than $150,000 and receiving unemployment will be eligible for a $10,200 tax break. Unemployment benefits will be extended through the end of August," he said.
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The deal was made after action on the relief bill screeched to a halt Friday as an earlier eleventh-hour compromise on unemployment insurance benefits appeared to unravel, leaving the entire effort in limbo and raising questions about Democrats' ability to govern with a 50-50 Senate.
A day that began with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., vowing passage of Biden's first major legislative initiative was thrown into uncertainty, leaving Republicans to practically mock the Democrats' predicament. Attention centered on Manchin, with Republicans trying to win him over to support an unemployment insurance amendment they hoped to offer -- instead of an alternative negotiated by Democratic leaders and endorsed by the White House.
"No comments, no comments, no comments," Manchin told reporters who pursued him through the Capitol late Friday after hours of uncertainty, adding: "Good negotiations should be, should be good."
The developments underscored the challenges Biden faces in getting his agenda through Congress given the exceedingly narrow Democratic majorities in both chambers. After disavowing bipartisan negotiations in order to pass a sweeping relief bill opposed by Republicans, Biden now faces a scenario where a single balky moderate Democrat can upset his plans.
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As passed by the House last Saturday, the relief legislation would have increased emergency federal unemployment benefits from their current level of $300 a week to $400 and extend them through August. The benefits are now set to expire March 14, which Democrats and the Biden administration see as the deadline for passing the wide-ranging relief bill into law.
But Manchin had voiced persistent concerns about increasing the jobless benefits, suggesting that doing so could keep people from rejoining the workforce just as the economy tries to get back on its feet. So on Friday morning, Democratic aides announced that an agreement had been reached on a compromise amendment, to be offered by Sen. Thomas Carper, D-Del., that would keep unemployment benefits at $300 a week and extend them through September, while also making the first $10,200 in benefits nontaxable to avoid tax shock hitting some Americans who received the benefits.
The White House quickly praised the agreement, with press secretary Jen Psaki tweeting that it would "provide more relief to the unemployed than the current legislation."
But it soon became unclear whether Manchin was actually on board with the deal. He was seen conversing with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who was pushing an alternative unemployment insurance amendment that would extend benefits at their current $300-per-week level into July, without any new tax relief.
As the uncertainty continued, action was halted on the Senate floor for seven hours and counting, as senators huddled in various configurations to negotiate among themselves.
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"We're stalled out right now, because the Democrats, I think, saw the possibility they could lose an amendment, the Portman amendment on UI [unemployment insurance] benefits, which does save a substantial amount of money. And it's a better policy," said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican. "We think it's a bipartisan amendment, and I think right now arms are being twisted."
Thune and others jokingly expressed concern for Manchin, who singlehandedly had the ability to throw the effort off track.
"I hope the Geneva Conventions applies to him," Thune said.
"Save Joe Manchin," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Carper declined to comment, but other Democrats expressed concern that if the Portman amendment were adopted, Democrats would have to end up renegotiating the bill with the House as the cutoff deadline for unemployment benefits nears.
"If it gets to a certain level, it may require renegotiating with the House and the White House, and that's not a desirable" outcome, said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md. "The clock is ticking."
'NECESSARY LIFELINE'
The unemployment benefits are just one piece of a much larger bill that includes $1,400 relief checks to individuals, $350 billion in state and local aid, $130 billion for schools, and tens of billions more for food stamps, child tax credits, rental relief, and vaccine distribution and testing, among many other provisions.
Biden insisted anew Friday that swift passage is critical.
"The rescue plan is absolutely essential to turning this around, getting kids back to school safely, giving a lifeline to small businesses and getting the upper hand on covid-19," Biden said at an event at the White House.
"People in the country are hurting right now," Biden said, calling his bill a "clearly necessary lifeline for getting the upper hand" against the pandemic.
Republicans used the unemployment impasse to accuse Biden of refusing to seek compromise with them.
"You could pick up the phone and end this right now," Graham said of Biden.
Republicans say the overall bill is a liberal spend-fest that ignores that growing numbers of vaccinations and signs of a stirring economy suggest that the twin crises are easing.
"Our country is already set for a roaring recovery," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., citing Friday's unexpectedly strong report on job creation. "Democrats inherited a tide that was already turning."
Democrats reject that, citing the 10 million jobs the economy has lost during the pandemic and numerous people still struggling to buy food and pay rent.
"If you just look at a big number, you say, 'Oh, everything's getting a little better,'" said Schumer. "It's not for the lower half of America. It's not."
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the No. 3 Senate Democrat, argued that Republicans did not understand the gravity of the pain being felt across the country. She cited high unemployment numbers and the toll on the mental health of children who cannot return to school.
"This country is on fire; the Republicans' biggest concern is that we might use too much water," said Murray, chairwoman of the health committee. "Anyone who says this bill is too expensive needs to understand how much this pandemic has already cost our communities."
'VOTE-A-RAMA' STALLS
The uncertainty around the unemployment insurance provisions arose as the Senate was about to plunge into a grueling process called a "vote-a-rama" that involves votes on dozens of amendments, one after another, hour after hour until senators exhaust themselves and stop. The first to be offered was by Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on trying to restore a $15 minimum wage to the legislation.
The Senate was poised to defeat Sanders' move, with Republicans united against it along with eight Democrats -- but the vote was held open indefinitely to accommodate the drawn-out, behind-the-scenes negotiations on jobless benefits.
"If anybody thinks that we're giving up on this issue, they are sorely mistaken," Sanders told reporters. "If we have to vote on it time and time again, we will -- and we're going to succeed."
Before the holdup on unemployment insurance, Schumer vowed to stay in session until Democrats passed the bill.
"We need to get this done. It would be so much better if we could in a bipartisan way, but we need to get it done," Schumer said. "We're not going to make the same mistake we made after the last economic downturn, when Congress did too little to help the nation rebound. ... We're not going to be timid in the face of big challenges."
Following Schumer on the Senate floor, McConnell lambasted Democrats for using a partisan procedure to rush through the giant legislation after Biden campaigned on promises to unify the nation -- but conceded there was little Republicans could do to stop it.
"In this supposed new era of healing leadership, we're about to watch one party ram through a partisan package on the thinnest of margins," McConnell said. "Go figure."
Friday's debate kicked off after Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., forced Senate clerks to read the entire 628-page bill aloud, a process that took almost 11 hours and concluded about 2:05 a.m. Friday. That happened after the Senate voted 51-50 along party lines Thursday afternoon to open debate, with Vice President Harris breaking the tie. The partisan vote to start debate was a likely sign of the final outcome, although Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she was still examining the bill after Democrats made some changes that could help her state and others.
The last-minute wheeling-and-dealing was a sign of Democratic leaders' determination to hold together to pass the initiative. It would be one of the largest bills ever enacted in congressional history, and its passage would stand as an early success for the new president.
Senate Democrats are moving the legislation forward under a process called budget reconciliation that allows it to pass with a simple majority, instead of the 60 votes often required. The complicated rules governing reconciliation bills also prohibit certain items without a particular budgetary impact. The Senate parliamentarian ruled last month that the minimum-wage increase, a top priority for many liberals, did not pass that test.
Presuming the bill passes the Senate, it must go back to the House for final passage, which is expected early next week.
Information for this article was contributed by Erica Werner, Jeff Stein and Tony Romm of The Washington Post; by Alan Fram of The Associated Press; and by Emily Cochrane of The New York Times.
