Stimulus stalling tactic
Sen. Ron Johnson vows to force a full reading of the 700-page bill.
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson is pledging to slow down the next coronavirus stimulus package — and its $1,400 checks for Americans.
The Oshkosh Republican on Wednesday afternoon promised to force a full reading of the bill while speaking on The Vicki McKenna Show. He said that reading the entirety of the document would likely take up to 10 hours.
“I will make them read their 600- to 700-page bill,” he said on the radio program. “So that every member of the Senate would have time to read it ... before we start the debate on it.”
After the reading, Johnson said he is prepared to continue to use parliamentary procedure to slow down a full vote by introducing as many amendments as he can. He hopes the price tag of the bill will go down substantially by the end of the debate by eliminating portions of the bill he sees as unfit.
“This isn’t a COVID relief really, this is a Democrat wish list, setting things up for a more socialist society,” he said. “And it needs to be resisted. And I’m going to lead the effort to resistance, starting today.”
He highlighted money meant to help fund education, which he said would be able to be spent through 2028.
“I think the pandemic will be over by then,” he said. “We see the light at the end of the tunnel; this is completely unnecessary.”
Johnson said he’s now working on recruiting other Senate Republicans to stand behind him, as he’ll need 12 or 13 with him on the floor at all times during the debate.
“I come from a manufacturing background,” he told McKenna. “So I’m happy to set the shift schedule.”
The massive stimulus bill includes the $1,400 checks to Americans, a continuation of unemployment benefits through August, money for state and local governments, money for reopening schools, money for vaccine distribution and help for small businesses, among many other programs.
Some changes have already been made to the bill, such as phasing out stimulus checks to individuals who make $80,000 a year or more. That compromise, which received pushback from some Democrats, cleared the way for the Senate to push the bill on. The proposal for a $15 minimum wage was also removed.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin criticized Johnson and his delay tactics, saying that Americans shouldn’t have to continue to wait for help.
“Every day Johnson and his fellow extremists waste is a day that Wisconsin families are waiting for their $1400 survival checks, a day that our state is losing out on vaccine distribution resources and a day that schools and small businesses are without aid to bounce back from the pandemic,” chair Ben Wikler said.
Johnson has faced criticism for many comments recently, including suggesting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol “didn’t seem like an armed insurrection” and his support for efforts to challenge the votes of Wisconsin’s own electors for now-President Joe Biden.