Senate Democrats blocked a scaled-down, GOP-only $500 billion coronavirus bill Wednesday, as talks continue on a bipartisan deal between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the White House.
Senators voted 51-44 to end debate on the Republican proposal, falling short of the 60 needed to overcome the procedural hurdle.
The GOP bill was widely expected to fall short—and is less than a third of the latest offer made by the White House. But Senate Republican leadership was eager to force Democrats to go on the record on coronavirus relief as the number of cases per day is on the rise and the November election is less than two weeks away.
“The overwhelming bulk of it is programs that Democrats claim they support. Well, it turns out there’s a special perk to being a United States senator. When you actually support something, you get to vote for it. ... When you actually want an outcome, you vote it. Strangely enough, that’s not what seems to be happening,” McConnell said on Wednesday ahead of the vote.
The GOP bill included a federal unemployment benefit, another round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) small business aid, more than $100 billion for schools and new funding for coronavirus testing and vaccine research and distribution.
Democrats blasted the GOP bill as a “stunt,” aimed at allowing vulnerable GOP senators to vote for a bill as they fight to hold onto the majority in November.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/522076-gop-coronavirus-bill-blocked-as-deal-remains-elusive
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