The U.S. Senate is on track to approve a coronavirus relief package as early as Saturday after a session that extended late night Friday into Saturday morning and that included conservative Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia ensuring the package is less generous for economically struggling Americans.
As of this writing, senators were still voting on a number of amendments to the $1.9 trillion rescue bill.
“By daybreak Saturday,” according to The Associated Press, “senators had worked through more than a dozen [mostly Republican] amendments without substantially changing the overall package.”
Senator Ted Cruz's (R-Tex.) amendments to relief package:
— Make sure prisoners are not eligible for stimulus payments
— Make sure undocumented immigrants are not eligible ofr stimulus payments
— Provide children with option for in-person education if schools remain closed— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) March 6, 2021
The package was already made less generous than the House-passed version after it was neutered on Friday of its popular provision to raise the federal minimum wage to $15, thanks in part to Manchin.
“To be clear, Senator Manchin is choosing to vote against his constituents, but clearly support his donors,” said Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.).
Manchin faced further criticism after successfully pushing back against a proposed boost to the existing $300-a-week unemployment benefits.
With the party’s narrow control of chamber, and broad GOP opposition to the bill, Senate Democrats can’t afford a single caucus member’s opposition if there’s any hope of the package passing.
The good news is the COVID bill expands the earned income tax credit and almost doubles the child tax credit — providing needed help to poor families, especially of color. It will cut child poverty in half while also helping parents pay for childcare.
The bad news: Joe Manchin.
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) March 6, 2021
According to Reuters, “The Senate set a record for its longest single vote in the modern era—11 hours and 50 minutes — as Democrats negotiated a compromise on unemployment benefits to satisfy centrists like Senator Joe Manchin.”
Pointing to the West Virginia lawmaker’s “outsized influence,” evidenced in part by his minimum wage boost blockade, Politico framed Friday as “Manchin’s most quintessential moment” after he “paralyzed the entire Senate for more than 10 hours and threatened to side with Republicans seeking to cut weeks of unemployment benefits.” The outlet continued:
In the end, it took a direct call from President Biden, a meeting with [Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer, and significant concessions to get Manchin on board. He trimmed several weeks of unemployment benefits off of Sen. Tom Carper’s (D-Del.) compromise amendment from earlier in the day and added a $150,000 cap to the proposal’s tax deduction for up to $10,200 in unemployment benefits.
The deal means federal unemployment benefits will be $300 a week — $100 per week less than the House-passed bill called for — and will expire September 6.
Dem aide trumpets agreement "ACCEPTED BY MANCHIN" (caps mine) to approve UI through Sept. 6 at $300/week. Includes tax forgiveness on $10K in UI below $150K annula income
Biden's initial plan: UI at $400 through end of September
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) March 6, 2021
Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), while lamenting the reduction in weekly UI benefits, welcomed the fact that they’re extended through the first week of September rather than in August when the chamber would not have been in session. “My top priority throughout these negotiations has been securing the strongest possible deal for jobless workers that could pass the Senate. This agreement achieves that,” he said late Friday.
In a Saturday morning tweet, Wyden added, “Senate Democrats are just hours away from passing the most comprehensive relief package in American history.”
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) also sought to sound a positive note.
“Do not lose sight of this fact,” Brown tweeted Friday night. “We are on the cusp of passing the most transformative relief bill in our nation’s history.”
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $104,000 in one-time donations and to add 1340 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy