Here’s where things stand
The Senate is voting into Saturday morning on a series of amendments to the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill, following a nearly 12-hour struggle to get one Democrat to support the party’s plan to extend unemployment benefits.
Here’s a recap of what happened so far:
- The vote began Friday before noon on an amendment to raise the minimum wage to $15 a hour, introduced by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The vote failed with eight Democratic senators voting against the measure, but the gavel didn’t come down for nearly 12 hours as a struggle ensued to get Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin to support the party’s plan to extend unemployment benefits.
- After a long negotiation, and with a flurry of other amendments to consider, Manchin finally agreed to extend $300 weekly unemployment benefits through Sept. 6, about a month earlier than what Democrats had envisioned.
- The Senate is now undertaking a series of politically tough amendment votes, the last major hurdle senators face before voting on the massive pandemic relief bill.
- Senate Republicans introduced a number of amendments overnight that were narrowly defeated by the Democratic majority.
Now what?
The Senate will pass the bill after voting on a series of amendments, a process known as vote-a-rama, which could end as soon as this morning. But given the changes made to the plan, it will have to go back to the House for a final vote before being sent to Biden’s desk for his signature.
