President Joe Biden's signature $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill passed the Senate 50-49 on Saturday, following a more than 25-hour marathon of amendment votes that was completed only after a lengthy interruption while Democrats settled an intra-party dispute over unemployment aid.
The measure, the American Rescue Plan Act, now heads back to the House, with Democrats aiming to have it signed into law next week. Enactment would hand Biden his first legislative victory and set the stage for work this spring on a massive infrastructure and manufacturing recovery bill that he wants.
But because of changes made in the Senate to satisfy moderate Democrats, it's not clear if more negotiations with progressives might be necessary to win final passage in the House.
Details of the Vote
The Democratic drive in the Senate stalled out for nearly 12 hours on Friday after West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin — a pivotal vote in the 50-50 Senate — balked at a deal to extend supplemental unemployment benefits into October.
As Republicans tried to lure Manchin to vote for a proposal by Senator Rob Portman of Ohio that would extend the benefits only through July 18, Democrats from Biden on down furiously lobbied Manchin and reworked their earlier plan.
Manchin finally signed on to a deal that would provide $300 a week in extra benefits through Sept. 6 and make the first $10,200 of unemployment insurance benefits non-taxable for households with incomes of less than $150,000.
The Portman amendment passed with Manchin's support but was then overridden by the Democratic deal.
That cleared the way for votes on three dozen amendments — most of which failed — and final passage. In the end, all Senate Democrats and independents lined up in favor of the bill, a feat of unity for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, despite the stumble on unemployment insurance.
He brokered key compromises restricting the eligibility of higher-income Americans to receive the bill's $1,400 direct payments as well as extending unemployment benefits at a lower level than in the House version.
Legislative Scope
The legislation is double the size of the Obama-era stimulus and exceeded many earlier Wall Street estimates for how big a package could Democrats pass with the thinnest margin of control.
The bill would enact the biggest health care expansion since the Affordable Care Act, a temporary plan to slash the child poverty rate and send checks soon to most Americans.
In addition, state and local governments and schools would get an infusion of aid that Democrats hope will propel a speedy economic recovery long before they face voters in 2022.
The deals on stimulus payments and unemployment aid, as well as the addition of a dozen smaller changes, ensured that moderate Democrats like Manchin and Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema were on board along with progressives like Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden.
That may also help in the House, where progressives were already angered over the loss of a provision to raise the minimum wage because of arcane Senate budget rules.
"A new day has come and we tell the American people that help is on the way," Schumer said on the Senate floor before the final vote. "This bill will deliver more help to more people than anything the federal government has done in decades."
Bill's Opposition
Republicans united in opposition to the bill. They argued that much of the measure is unnecessary given improving economic indicators, like Friday's stronger-than-expected jobs report, and that it's a danger to the long-term health of the economy because of the growing U.S. budget deficit.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the deficit would reach $2.3 trillion this year before the passage of the new bill adds $1.2 trillion more to that total in fiscal 2021.
"The Senate has never spent $2 trillion in a more haphazard way," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
Vice President Kamala Harris wasn't needed to cast a tie-breaking vote because Senator Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, returned to his home state to attend a funeral for his late father-in-law. That left Republicans with 49 votes.
