As the lawmakers are now considering making changes to the mammoth bill, the $1.9 trillion Biden bill faces a potential wood-chipper in the Senate.
On Friday, the House passed the legislation, which sent the Biden bill to the Senate where it could come up a week after. The leadership aimed to get the bill signed into law by the middle of March, with the responsibility of moving it through Congress quickly.
Biden Bill Faced With Potential Wood-Chipper
However, before the Democrat senators can pass the bill, they will need to go through voting sessions for hours and hours which is known as a vote-a-Rama, wherein every senator will be offered the chance to make an amendment. Any changes will require the COVID-19 relief plan to go back to the House.
According to the Hill, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) shared that there have been conversations regarding a different approach on some of the provisions but he clarified that they do not want to derail reconciliation, referring to the process that the Democrats are utilizing in advancing the legislation. Durbin also added that they want to do something that is feasible politically with the cooperation of the House.
When asked as to what to expect from the Republicans, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said that for him, people are eager to have a chance in laying down the markers and making their point.
As the action in the Senate normally is tightly controlled, vote-a-Rama gives one of the few chances for senators to force votes. Earlier this month, the vote-a-Rama on the budget resolution which teed up the COVID-19 relief bill has attracted not less than 800 amendments, as the debate that started in the afternoon lasted until after 5 a.m.
However, most of the amendments on the previous vote-a-Rama during the debate were non-binding, which made little more than political messaging. In the upcoming debate, the stakes are being raised, as an amendment that will be successful would change the bill and force it back to the lower chamber, CNBC reported.
Cornyn also added that he thinks they already got a little bit of a preview, but the budget resolution is not a law. He also added that a robust amendment process should be expected.
Moreover, other bipartisan discussions about the idea of having additional changes on the COVID-19 relief plan are still ongoing.
In addition, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also shared that she was talking with the Democrat senators regarding the potential amendments, such as raising the income threshold for individuals who will be receiving the stimulus payments, as those who are earning $200,000 upwards will be receiving a partial check.
When asked regarding the comments, Durbin mentioned that it is one of the topics the bipartisan group of senators has raised from the start.
During the vote-a-Rama on the budget resolution, a bipartisan group of senators filed an amendment to voice support for making sure upper-income taxpayers are not eligible. The said amendment which was non-binding ended up being adopted in a 99-1 vote, NBC News reported.
