Tempers rise as US Senate awaits vote on $2 trillion coronavirus bill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate hoped to vote on Wednesday on a $2 trillion (1.69 trillion pounds) emergency package to alleviate the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but found themselves fending off critics from the right and left who threatened to hold up the bill.
Top aides to Republican President Donald Trump and senior senators from both parties said they had agreed on the unprecedented stimulus bill in the early hours of Wednesday morning after five days of talks.
The massive bill includes a $500 billion fund to help hard-hit industries and a comparable amount for direct payments of up to $3,000 apiece to millions of U.S. families. It is intended to flood the economy with cash in a bid to stem the impact of a pandemic that has killed more than 900 people in the United States and infected at least 60,000.
Several Republican senators said the bill needed to be changed to ensure that laid-off workers would not be paid more than they earned on the job.
“This bill pays you more not to work than if you were working,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, told a news conference.
Democrats scoffed in response, noting that employees cannot collect unemployment if they leave their jobs voluntarily.
“Why would the senators hold up this really important bill ... because they resent people at the low end of the spectrum who have lost their jobs, from getting $600?” House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked on CNN.
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, said he was prepared to block the bill if Republicans did not drop those objections.
The disputes clouded optimism that the bill could become law quickly. Administration officials said Trump would definitely sign it into law if it passed both the Republican-led Senate and Democratic-majority House.
“Today the Senate will act to help the people of this country weather this storm,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.