Senate OKs stimulus bill in tight vote

Democrats go it alonedespite bipartisan push

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., walks on Capitol Hill as the Senate works to complete the Democrats' $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, in Washington, Saturday, March 6, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., walks on Capitol Hill as the Senate works to complete the Democrats' $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, in Washington, Saturday, March 6, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON -- An exhausted Senate narrowly approved the $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill Saturday as President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies notched a victory they called crucial for hoisting the country out of the pandemic and economic doldrums. It includes an increase in safety-net spending that amounts to the largest anti-poverty effort in a generation.

After laboring all night on a mountain of amendments -- nearly all from Republicans and rejected -- bleary-eyed senators approved the sprawling package on a 50-49 party-line vote. That sets up final congressional approval by the House this week so lawmakers can whisk it to Biden for his signature.

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The House is set to vote on the Senate's version of the stimulus Tuesday, teeing up checks and other financial assistance to start to reach Americans as soon as this month.

The huge measure -- its cost is nearly one-tenth the size of the entire U.S. economy -- is Biden's biggest early priority and the first legislative victory of his administration. Called the American Rescue Plan, it stands as his formula for addressing the deadly virus and a limping economy, twin crises that have afflicted the country for a year.

"I promised the American people help was on the way," Biden said Saturday. "Today, I can say we've taken one more giant step of delivering on that promise."

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He added, "This nation has suffered too much for much too long. ... And everything in this package is designed to relieve the suffering and to meet the most urgent needs of the nation, and put us in a better position to prevail."

Saturday's vote was also a crucial political moment for Biden and congressional Democrats, who need nothing short of party unanimity in a 50-50 Senate they run with Vice President Kamala Harris' tiebreaking vote. They hold a slim 10-vote House edge.

Not one Republican backed the bill in the Senate or when it initially passed the House, underscoring the barbed partisan environment that's characterized the early days of Biden's presidency.

A small but pivotal band of moderate Democrats leveraged changes in the legislation that incensed progressives, hardly helping Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., guide the measure through the House. But rejection of their first, signature bill was not an option for Democrats, who face two years of running Congress with virtually no room for error.

In a significant sign, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, representing about 100 House liberals, called the Senate's weakening of some provisions "bad policy and bad politics" but "relatively minor concessions." Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said the bill retained its "core bold, progressive elements."

"They feel like we do, we have to get this done," Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said of the House. He added, "It's not going to be everything everyone wants. No bill is."

Schumer also said in an interview: "We promised them [Americans] checks; they're going to get checks. We promised they were going to get a better availability and distribution of vaccines; that will happen," he said.

"All of that is going to happen, and that's going to change people's outlook ... not just to be more Democratic, which I think it will, but to see government can work for them," Schumer said.

In a statement, Pelosi invited Republicans "to join us in recognition of the devastating reality of this vicious virus and economic crisis and of the need for decisive action."

$1,400 FOR MANY

The bill provides direct payments of up to $1,400 for most Americans and extended emergency unemployment benefits. There are vast piles of spending for covid-19 vaccines and testing, states and cities, schools and ailing industries, along with tax breaks to help lower-earning people, families with children and consumers buying health insurance.

It represents one of the most far-reaching federal relief efforts ever to pass Congress -- and a bid by Biden to use the power of the government to tackle the pandemic and invigorate the economic recovery by pouring immense amounts of money into initiatives to help low-income Americans and the middle class.

The bill is estimated to cut poverty by one-third this year and would plant the seeds for what Democrats hope will become an income guarantee for children. It would potentially cut child poverty in half, through a generous expansion of tax credits for Americans with children -- which Democrats hope to make permanent -- increases in subsidies for child care, a broadening of eligibility under the Affordable Care Act and an expansion of food stamps and rental assistance.

"Not since Social Security have we made that kind of commitment to cut poverty," said Christopher Wimer, a co-director of the university's Center on Poverty and Social Policy.

The bill's cost is just shy of the $2.2 trillion stimulus measure that became law last March, just as the devastating public health and economic impact of the coronavirus crisis was coming into view. It is the sixth in a series of substantial spending bills Congress has enacted since then, and the only one to pass without bipartisan support, although it is broadly popular with members of both parties outside Washington; state and local officials in both parties joined the chorus of industry groups, advocacy groups and voters calling for the federal government to provide additional relief.

Even with changes, the bill remained more than than double the size of the stimulus package that Congress approved in 2009, when Biden was vice president, to counter the toll of the 2008-2009 recession. Top Democrats, many of whom voted to pass that bill and recalled winnowing down the package to appease Republicans, who still opposed it almost unanimously, said they were determined not to make the same mistake again.

Congressional Republicans call this measure a wasteful spending spree for Democrats' liberal allies that ignores recent indications that the pandemic and economy was turning the corner.

"The Senate has never spent $2 trillion in a more haphazard way," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. He said Democrats' "top priority wasn't pandemic relief. It was their Washington wish list."

McConnell added: "Voters gave Senate Democrats the slimmest possible majority. Voters picked a president who promised unity and bipartisanship," but Democrats instead opted to "ram through" their stimulus bill.

"Regrettably, there was no interest from Democratic leadership in negotiating a targeted, bipartisan relief package that meets the challenges at hand," agreed Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. "Our country is at its best when we come together as Americans to overcome the challenges we face."

The Senate commenced a dreaded "vote-a-rama" -- a continuous series of votes on amendments -- shortly before midnight Friday, and by its end around noon Saturday dispensed with about three dozen. The Senate had been in session since 9 a.m. Friday.

Overnight, the chamber looked like an experiment in sleep deprivation. Several lawmakers appeared to rest their eyes or doze at their desks, often burying their faces in their hands. At one point, Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, at 48 one of the younger senators, trotted into the chamber and did a prolonged stretch.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, missed the votes to attend his father-in-law's funeral.

The measure follows five earlier ones totaling about $4 trillion enacted since last spring and comes as there are signs of a potential turnaround.

Vaccine supplies are growing, deaths and caseloads have eased but remain frighteningly high, and hiring was surprisingly strong last month, though the economy remains 10 million jobs smaller than pre-pandemic levels.

LAST-MINUTE CHANGES

The Senate package was delayed repeatedly as Democrats made eleventh-hour changes aimed at balancing demands by their competing moderate and progressive factions.

Work on the bill ground to a halt Friday after an agreement among Democrats on extending emergency jobless benefits seemed to collapse. Nearly 12 hours later, top Democrats and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, perhaps the chamber's most conservative Democrat, said they had a deal, and the Senate approved it on a party-line 50-49 vote.

Under their compromise, $300 weekly emergency unemployment checks -- on top of regular state benefits -- would be renewed, with a final payment Sept. 6. There also would be tax breaks on some of that aid, helping people whom the pandemic abruptly tossed out of jobs and risked tax penalties on the benefits.

The House relief bill, largely similar to the Senate's, provided $400 weekly benefits through August. The current $300-per-week payments expire March 14, and Democrats want the bill on Biden's desk by then to avert a lapse.

Manchin and Republicans have asserted that higher jobless benefits discourage people from returning to work, a rationale most Democrats and many economists reject.

The agreement on jobless benefits wasn't the only move that showed moderates' sway.

The Senate voted Friday to eject a House-approved boost in the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, a major defeat for progressives. Eight Democrats opposed the increase, suggesting that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and other liberals pledging to continue the effort will face a difficult fight.

Party leaders also agreed to restrict eligibility for the $1,400 stimulus checks for most Americans. That amount would be gradually reduced until, under the Senate bill, it reaches zero for people earning $80,000 and couples making $160,000. Those ceilings were higher in the House version.

Many of the rejected GOP amendments were either attempts to force Democrats to cast politically awkward votes or for Republicans to demonstrate their zeal for issues that appeal to their voters.

These included defeated efforts to bar funds from going to schools that don't reopen their doors or let transgender students born male participate in female sports. One amendment would have blocked aid to so-called sanctuary cities, where local authorities don't help federal officials round up migrants.

"The hope is Republicans see now we meant it," Schumer said. "You don't work with us, then we'll do it on our own."

Emboldened, he pledged to return to lingering issues in the coronavirus aid debate, including raising the minimum wage. And he and his fellow Democrats soon are set to start considering new investments in the country's infrastructure, overhaul o immigration laws and rewrites of the U.S. tax code -- debates that touch on deep political divides within the caucus about the role of government to tax, regulate and spend.

Schumer, however said he had reason for optimism: "Democrats have more confidence we can get things done if we stay unified."

Information for this article was contributed by Alan Fram, Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking of The Associated Press; by Tony Romm, Jeff Stein and Erica Werner of The Washington Post; and by Emily Cochrane of The New York Times.

President Joe Biden speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House, Saturday, March 6, 2021, in Washington. The Senate approved a sweeping pandemic relief package over Republican opposition on Saturday, moving Biden closer to a milestone political victory that would provide $1,400 checks for most American and direct billions of dollars to schools, state and local governments, and businesses. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House, Saturday, March 6, 2021, in Washington. The Senate approved a sweeping pandemic relief package over Republican opposition on Saturday, moving Biden closer to a milestone political victory that would provide $1,400 checks for most American and direct billions of dollars to schools, state and local governments, and businesses. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., left, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, head to the chamber as the Senate steers toward a voting marathon on the Democrats' $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that's expected to end with the chamber's approval of the measure, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., left, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, head to the chamber as the Senate steers toward a voting marathon on the Democrats' $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that's expected to end with the chamber's approval of the measure, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, March 5, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., speaks during a news conference after the Senate passed a COVID-19 relief bill in Washington, Saturday, March 6, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., speaks during a news conference after the Senate passed a COVID-19 relief bill in Washington, Saturday, March 6, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
In this image from video, the vote total of 50-49 on Senate passage of the COVID-19 relief bill, is displayed on screen in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, March 6, 2021. (Senate Television via AP)
In this image from video, the vote total of 50-49 on Senate passage of the COVID-19 relief bill, is displayed on screen in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, March 6, 2021. (Senate Television via AP)
President Joe Biden speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House, Saturday, March 6, 2021, in Washington. The Senate approved a sweeping pandemic relief package over Republican opposition on Saturday, moving Biden closer to a milestone political victory that would provide $1,400 checks for most American and direct billions of dollars to schools, state and local governments, and businesses. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Joe Biden speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House, Saturday, March 6, 2021, in Washington. The Senate approved a sweeping pandemic relief package over Republican opposition on Saturday, moving Biden closer to a milestone political victory that would provide $1,400 checks for most American and direct billions of dollars to schools, state and local governments, and businesses. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Capitol is seen at dusk as work in the Senate is stalled on the Democrats' $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, in Washington, Friday, March 5, 2021. Senators plan to continue to vote on amendments through the night. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The Capitol is seen at dusk as work in the Senate is stalled on the Democrats' $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, in Washington, Friday, March 5, 2021. Senators plan to continue to vote on amendments through the night. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
In this image from video, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks before the final vote on the Senate version of the COVID-19 relief bill in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, March 6, 2021. (Senate Television via AP)
In this image from video, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks before the final vote on the Senate version of the COVID-19 relief bill in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, March 6, 2021. (Senate Television via AP)
In this image from video, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during debate in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, March 6, 2021. (Senate Television via AP)
In this image from video, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during debate in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, March 6, 2021. (Senate Television via AP)

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