Senator Bernie Sanders is pressing for a commitment to vote to include another round of stimulus checks in the coronavirus relief package before agreeing to go ahead with a one-week funding bill.
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Senator Bernie Sanders is pressing for a commitment to vote to include another round of stimulus checks in the coronavirus relief package before agreeing to go ahead with a one-week funding bill.
AP
The Senate is mired in a series of battles over separate legislation that could lead to a government shutdown as they delay action on a temporary funding measure by one week.
Federal agencies run out of money at midnight Friday if the Senate fails to pass the temporary bill and sends it to the president for signature.
Among the concerns, Senator Bernie Sanders, I Font, is seeking to vote on a measure that would allow direct payments to Americans before the interim measure is passed.
In addition, a group of Republican members is pushing for a provision to address future government shutdowns.
“Neither side is currently blinking,” Senate Majority Whip John Thun, RS.D. To a Capitol Hill reporter on Friday. “It’s either a bunch of things, or there’s nothing.”
Thon said that with some Republicans and Sanders currently opposing the swift passage of the bill, it was unclear on Friday afternoon whether they would beat the clock for the lockdown.
The legislation was to keep the government’s lights on By a large majority in the House of Representatives Wednesday. When it got to the Senate, it was stuck behind the National Defense Authorization Act that reached the Senate first.
Overnight, member fights over both measures helped delay the passage of the temporary gap, raising overnight fears of a short-term shutdown.
“The Senate needs to pass an interim funding measure today to prevent a slip while a bipartisan bipartisan effort on a one-year funding bill is closed,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said in his opening remarks in the auditorium. . Friday.
Sanders joined with Republican Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri to get votes on coronavirus relief measures to allow another round of direct payments. But unlike Hawley, Sanders was not obligated to concede his demands to allow for a faster vote on the interim measure if the direct payment measure was not handled first.
“All I want to say right now is that the American people are suffering, and tens of millions of people are living in despair,” Sanders told Capitol Hill reporters on Friday. “They need help. They need a check for $ 1,200, $ 500 for their children, and Congress cannot go home without providing that.”
Another president, Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul, on Friday yielded to his demands for the defense bill, saying he wanted to delay it by just one day. This allowed for the afternoon vote on the National Defense Authorization Act, paving the way for an interim measure, also known as a continuous resolution or CR.
“The main point in blocking the Defense Authorization Bill was to signal that the president should have the power to end war, not just start wars,” Paul told a Capitol Hill reporter.
Soon after, lawmakers approved a procedural proposal to allow a final vote on the defense bill. Trump has threatened to veto the measure, but an overwhelming majority in both houses indicated support for the plan. The House of Representatives already approved the defense bill by a majority voting against the veto earlier this week.
The means by which Congress might have the votes to override Trump’s veto if that happens.
