WASHINGTON: The U.S. Senate is expected to vote as early as Wednesday on whether to move forward on President Joe Biden's US$1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, an action that would set up a final Senate vote on passage for later this week.
Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have denounced it as a wasteful, Democratic"wish list" containing provisions unrelated to the pandemic, which has killed more than 517,000 Americans and left millions more jobless. Before the legislation comes to a final vote, Democrats will have to sort out a welter of competing ideas as they seek to advance the bill.First to go will be a minimum-wage increase, which the Senate parliamentarian said last week could not be included in the package if Democrats want to invoke a special procedure that would allow them to pass the bill with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes needed to advance most legislation in the chamber.
Other areas could get whittled back. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, a key centrist, is pushing to scale back enhanced unemployment benefits to US$300 per week from US$400. Lawmakers may also opt to discontinue those benefits if unemployment in a given state drops below a certain level, according to a Democratic aide.
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