Senate Democrats block $1.8 trillion coronavirus aid bill
Senate Democrats on Monday blocked a cloture vote that would have allowed a $1.8 trillion coronavirus stimulus package to advance for a full vote in the upper chamber.
The vote to end debate on the massive package failed because 60 votes were needed and just one Democrat, Alabama’s Doug Jones, voted aye, with the final tally 49 to 46.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) needed 60 votes to end debate on the bill and allow it to go to a full vote in the Senate, which means at least 12 Democrats would have to have joined all Republicans in voting in favor.
The sweeping bill, meant to offset the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, was blocked Sunday night by Democrats who said the package did not do enough to protect American workers and was essentially a slush fund for the GOP’s spending.
McConnell immediately slammed the vote and said it could delay the “Phase 3” portion of the federal aid package for days.
“This has got to stop and today is the day it has to stop,” an exasperated McConnell said on the Senate floor. “The country is out of time.
“As a result of this procedural obstruction, let me explain where we are. By refusal to allow to take this first step, which would have still given them plenty of time to negotiate, we have put the Senate in the following position,” the Kentucky Republican said.
“If any one of the 100 of us choose to object, we can’t deal with this until Friday or Saturday at the earliest,” McConnell said, accusing Democrats of “absolutely mindless obstruction going on on the other side while the public is waiting for us to act.”
He also said that Democrats were complaining that the $1.8 trillion package was not enough.
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was still negotiating with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and hoped to cut a deal as long as he can ensure worker protections are included, and that a $500 billion fund for businesses has the right controls to ensure it’s spent responsibly.
Jones, facing a rough reelection fight in red state Alabama, had voted against the same measure Sunday, and dismissed McConnell’s claims that Democrats wanted items included that had nothing to do with the pandemic.
“No, that’s all out and McConnell knows that. All that stuff is out, that’s not really on the table any more and [is no different than] some of the garbage they put on the table to begin with,” Jones said, referring to GOP pork.
“What this is boiling down to is about two things, it is boiling down to whether there should be any transparency of $500 billion of taxpayer money. I’ve got colleagues accused — and I use that word — of insider trading and I’ve got the president of the US owning restaurants and resorts and golf hotels and we need to know where that money is going to go,” he said.
The second thing, he added, was “a stabilization fund for counties and city governments. Those people are hemorrhaging money … they need a special fund.”
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said his GOP colleagues cared more about bailing out corporations than helping the little guy.
“My hospitals need to stay open and my healthcare workers need to be protected first. But it seems like the Republican proposal is more focused on the big corporations and the health of Wall Street than the healthcare of the people in rural America and Main Street,” he tweeted after the vote.
Several senators, including Mitt Romney of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky, were under quarantine and therefore did not vote.