Facing one of the worst economic downturns in American history, one that is unsparing in its trauma, the Senate late Wednesday unanimously approved a $2 trillion emergency relief bill that attempts to arrest the financial havoc caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Lawmakers acted with unusual speed and cooperation to produce the largest economic rescue package in U.S. history.
The sprawling legislation, which passed 96 to 0, would send checks to more than 150 million American households, set up enormous loan programs for businesses large and small, pump billions of dollars into unemployment insurance programs, greatly boost spending on hospitals, and much more.
The Senate’s most liberal and conservative members joined together to support the mammoth spending bill, illustrating how concerned policymakers have become about the health care strains and financial pain the country now faces.
....Bernie had a few words about those objections.
Wednesday night’s vote capped drama-filled days of up-and-down negotiations over legislation originally introduced by McConnell a week ago, but which Democrats viewed as unacceptably tilted toward corporations. They negotiated major changes, including an approximately $250 billion increase in spending on unemployment benefits that would expand eligibility and allow laid-off workers to receive an additional $600 a week for four months, on top of the benefits their state unemployment agencies pay.
Schumer touted the measure as “unemployment insurance on steroids,” but in one of the final hang-ups Wednesday, a group of four conservative senators raised concerns that the program would provide incentive for people to leave the workforce since in some cases they might end up making more on unemployment than at their job.
Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke with the objecting senators — Ben Sasse (Neb.), Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.), Tim Scott (S.C.) and Rick Scott (Fla.) — with Mnuchin explaining that it was the most efficient way to structure the program since the alternative would require working with a patchwork of different state unemployment systems.
Bizarro Social Distancing:
Senators are extremely close to one another on the Senate floor as they vote on the stimulus bill to respond to the coronavirus crisis. Not keeping much distance at all. pic.twitter.com/FswKLmnfwG— Clare Foran (@ckmarie) March 26, 2020
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