Democrats rejected all but three Republican amendments to the $1.9 trillion relief bill, which cleared the Senate in a partisan vote Saturday.
One Republican amendment to be adopted as part of the marathon vote-a-rama session that lasted more than 24 hours was amendment #1092 on reducing the unemployment insurance plus-up from $400 to $300, introduced by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).
Portman’s amendment, which provided the extra jobless benefit until July 18, was short-lived, however. About an hour later, Democrats passed their own related amendment, which overrode Portman’s by extending the plus-up through September 6.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) voted with all 49 Republican senators present to approve Portman’s amendment, although he later voted with his Democrat colleagues on the superseding amendment that additionally made the first $10,200 in unemployment benefits tax free for some households.
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin speaks to a reporter outside the Senate Chamber in Washington, on Feb. 13, 2021. (Greg Nash/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Another Republican measure to pass was amendment #1342, introduced by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), which provides an effective date for the modification of revenue requirements for educational institutions—an uncontroversial technical proposal that passed by voice vote.
The third GOP proposal to pass was amendment #1233, introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), which activates $800 million of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund to help homeless youth and children amid the pandemic.
All other Republican amendments failed.
One of those to be voted down was Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-S.C.) proposed amendment #1030 that revived his effort for transparency and investigations into COVID-19 nursing home deaths.
Another to fail was amendment #1026, proposed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), which sought to ensure schools were open at least half the time for half the students in order to be eligible for funding.
Also voted down was amendment #1369 from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), which sought to modify a state-and-local funding formula that he said was too generous to blue states.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) speaks to media at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 7, 2021. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)
The bill contains some $350 billion in state and local funding, a longtime Republican bugbear. The Senate version of the bill features a compromise stipulation compared to the House version, that the money can only cover costs incurred by the end of 2024. It also prohibits states from using the money to offset tax cuts and stipulates that it cannot be used to shore up pension funds.
Other failed Republican amendments include a revival of the canceled Keystone XL pipeline to help COVID-impacted communities, emergency assistance to non-public schools,
In a Friday press conference, Graham, Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and several other Senate Republicans denounced what they said was a partisan process around passing the relief bill, calling President Joe Biden’s previous calls for unity “hollow,” and denouncing the American Rescue Plan as “bloated, wasteful, and partisan.”
“They’ve chosen a partisan path. And the reason we’re not doing it together now is they don’t want to do it together. They’ve got a wish list that’s unrelated to COVID that none of us are going to buy into,” Graham said.
“They see this as an opportunity to appropriate money for their liberal wish list using COVID as the reason,” he added.
The Senate ultimately approved the $1.9 trillion stimulus package Saturday, with all 50 Democrats voting for and all present Republicans voting against.
The bill, also known as the American Rescue Plan or H.R. 1319, was passed by the House on Feb. 27 by a vote of 219–212, with all Republicans and two Democrats voting against it.
The bill will be returned to the House for reconciliation, which is expected to happen early next week.
