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This breakthrough has Democrats ready to move Biden’s bill forward as soon as possible. Biden urged the party to “swallow” provisions they don’t like at a virtual lunch on Tuesday, according to a Senate Democrat. Moderate Senators could move their weekly $ 300 proposal as an amendment later this week, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Said he plans to force a vote on a minimum hourly wage of $ 15.
The disagreement over unemployment benefits was not a big enough issue to derail, or even delay, party pressure for the swift passage of the $ 1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill.
These Democrats said they expected a relatively smooth process as they rushed to complete the bill before some increased unemployment benefits expired on March 14. The Senate hopes to send its version of the bill back to the House well in advance of this deadline in order to give states a head start on the logistics of extending these benefits.
Schumer has taken procedural steps to put legislation passed by the House on the floor, although the Senate will replace it in its own text before finalizing the vote. Among the things the Senate will remove from the House bill: the $ 15 minimum wage increase, as well as several transportation projects, all of which were dismissed by the non-partisan Senate parliamentarian.
Senate Democrats need their 50 members to kick off consideration of the bill, a vote expected Wednesday afternoon. After that, the chamber will dive into a long debate and end with a series of votes on amendments that could last for hours, known as “vote-a-rama”.
Senate Republicans are debating the pain of doing things for Democrats, perhaps dragging the marathon of unlimited amendments overnight. It would likely happen late Thursday and end early Friday morning.
“I hope for infinity. There are people out there who talk about trying to set a schedule and keep it going indefinitely, ”said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
Paul said some in his party wanted to push the debate well beyond Thursday and keep adding amendments until Friday, when he suggested that Schumer spread the pain over two days.
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