U.S. Senate moves past stalemate on relief package

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats Friday agreed to scale back the $400-a-week unemployment payments in President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan, making a key concession to placate a crucial moderate in their own party who had threatened to defect and derail the new administration’s first major legislative initiative.

With the package stalled in the evenly divided Senate, leading Democrats agreed to drop their bid to raise the existing $300-a-week benefit, bowing to the demands of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and other moderates who had voiced concern that an overly generous benefit could keep people from returning to work and hamper a nascent recovery. As part of the agreement, they proposed to make a large portion of last year’s unemployment benefits tax-free.

The tentative deal emerged after Manchin’s objections had halted the stimulus measure in its tracks just as the chamber had begun a marathon series of votes on an array of proposals to change the bill. Democrats’ decision to modify the measure to accommodate his objections was the latest reflection of the strength of a small group of moderates who are crucial swing votes, and the difficulty of governing in a 50-50 Senate, where Democrats cannot afford to lose a single vote. “The president supports the compromise agreement and is grateful to all the senators who worked so hard to reach this outcome,” Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said in a statement.

While the outcome cleared the way for the votes to resume on the stimulus package, which was on track to pass as early as Saturday, it was an awkward episode for Democratic leaders, who had been confidently predicting that a more generous jobless aid deal they had worked out — with Biden’s blessing — would keep them unified and allow them to march forward, beating back Republican efforts to throw the bill off track.

“The Senate is going to take a lot of votes, but we are going to power through and finish this bill, however long it takes,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the majority leader, vowed before the trouble began.

But Manchin refused for hours to sign off, and Democrats were ultimately forced to shorten the duration of the benefits, which they had sought to extend until early October, setting an end date of Sept. 6. “We have reached a compromise that enables the economy to rebound quickly while also protecting those receiving unemployment benefits from being hit with an unexpected tax bill next year,” Manchin said in a statement after the agreement had been reached.

It was the second time in a week that leading Democrats, with the backing of the White House, had bowed to the wishes of moderates in their party in an effort to keep the sweeping stimulus measure on track. On Wednesday, they agreed to trim eligibility for another round of stimulus checks.

Still, the Senate fell into a period of paralysis Friday, with a vote on an unrelated proposal to advance a minimum-wage increase to the stimulus measure languishing for more than 10 hours as Democrats stalled for time to iron out the agreement on the unemployment payments. At 9:12 p.m., it appeared to become the longest open vote in modern Senate history.

Hanging in the balance was Biden’s pandemic aid measure, one of the largest federal rescue bills of its kind, which would provide funding for vaccine distribution and schools, relief for small businesses and help for struggling Americans, including direct payments and the jobless aid.