Senate fails to pass $500B aid package
Lawmakers vote 51-44 as talks continue
WASHINGTON – The Senate failed Wednesday to pass a $500 billion COVID-19 aid package as negotiations drag on less than two weeks before Election Day.
The bill would have given a federal boost to weekly unemployment benefits, sent $100 billion to schools and allocated funding for testing and vaccine development. The vote was 51-44, short of the 60 votes required to allow the legislation to move forward. Nearly all Democrats opposed it over concerns that more money was needed to combat the virus and help Americans.
The bill’s $500 billion price tag was far less than the roughly
$1.8 trillion package the
White House offered and the $2.2 trillion package Democrats backed. The two parties have spent months attempting to find a bipartisan agreement for one last batch of coronavirus relief before the election.
The back-and-forth talks have been dizzying: Negotiations have appeared dead only to be revived with optimism and more talks between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Democrats for standing in the way of a compromise.
Senate Republicans stressed their concerns about a large bill over the rising national debt and items Democrats demand, such as funds for local and state governments.
They got behind the $500 billion bill.
“The legislation before us is neither Republicans’ nor Democrats’ idea of a perfect bill. I think we’re all clear on that,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Wednesday before the vote. “But it would move us past Speaker Pelosi’s all-or-nothing obstruction and deliver huge support, right now, for the most pressing needs of our nation.”
He said Democrats advocated for “silly stuff,” allocations he characterized as “wheelbarrows of cash” for state and local governments that “Democrats have mismanaged for decades.”
“The country needs an outcome,” McConnell said. “Let’s put aside our differences, agree where we can and move forward. Why not get the country in a better place while Washington continues to argue over the rest?”
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Wednesday’s vote the latest “stunt” by Republicans on proposals “that are in reality designed to fail,” accusing the GOP of playing “games” with important relief for Americans by holding a “fake vote.”
“While the country is hurting, while millions of Americans are sick and dying, while workers lose their jobs, businesses close their doors, Republican senators are playing political stunts with vitally needed economic relief,” he said.
He criticized the lack of funds for coronavirus testing and tracing and said the legislation is filled with “poison pills” that Democrats would never back.
The Senate voted on a small bill Tuesday that would reauthorize the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses. The bill would have allowed another round of small-business loans but was blocked by Democrats, who argued for a broader package.
Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act in March, but many of the package’s provisions have lapsed – including airline assistance and a federal boost to weekly unemployment benefits. Americans struggling through an economic recession hope for another round of aid checks.
Pelosi and Mnuchin have continued daily conversations, attempting to find a compromise.
Pelosi said Wednesday on MSNBC that she’s “optimistic” about a bill but the timing is unclear.