The Senate vote FAILS 47-47, falling short of the 60 needed to advance the coronavirus relief package.
Democrats blocked it out of objections to the GOP bill.
Gardner, Lee, Paul, Romney, Scott and Sanders didn’t vote.
McConnell switched his vote so he can bring it up again.
Democrats blocked it out of objections to the GOP bill.
Gardner, Lee, Paul, Romney, Scott and Sanders didn’t vote.
McConnell switched his vote so he can bring it up again.
Why did Senate Democrats just block Republicans from advancing their coronavirus stimulus? Insufficient worker protections or restrictions on companies getting bailout $, a “secret bailout authority” (per one D aide) for Mnuchin, not enough public health $ for states/workers/etc.
McConnell sounds furious with Democrats, arguing they could have backed the procedural vote while negotiations continued. Schumer says the bill isn’t close to ready for prime time and Dems need it to improve before voting to move forward.
McConnell points the finger at Nancy Pelosi for torpedoing the Senate GOP effort: “She’s the Speaker of the House, not the Speaker of the Senate. We don’t have one. We were doing just fine until that intervention.”
Pelosi’s office weighs in 👇
Pelosi’s office weighs in 👇
Notable that Senate Democrats are going to the mat en masse for a number of provisions proposed early by Elizabeth Warren and taken up by Chuck Schumer — i.e. rules against firing workers and stock buybacks for companies that get taxpayer money.
Trump himself said recently he doesn’t want to see stock buybacks from biz that get bailouts. This shouldn’t be hard but the devil, as always, is in the details. Senate Dems think the bill provisions are too weak i.e. waive-able by the administration.
