Senate Democrats Thursday blocked a Republican bill that would have provided a new round of federal aid to battle the effects of the coronavirus.
Senate Republicans introduced the bill Tuesday hoping to attract enough Democratic support to achieve a 60-vote threshold needed to begin debate. But no Democrat was willing to vote in favor of the bill, a narrower relief package that would have provided roughly $500 billion for coronavirus treatment, help for schools and universities, and a new round of loans for small businesses. The vote was 52-47, falling eight votes short of the threshold.
Prospects for further pandemic relief are now unclear.
Republicans voted nearly unanimously in favor of the measure, which halved the spending of a $1 trillion proposal GOP leaders introduced in July that dozens of Republicans opposed.
The new bill appealed to more conservatives because it cost less and would be partly paid for with existing coronavirus funding that has remained unspent.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the lone Republican to vote against the bill.
Democrats rejected the bill as insufficient to address the effects of the coronavirus and said it was laden with conservative provisions they oppose. Democratic leaders said they are seeking an aid package that spends at least $2.2 trillion.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, labeled the measure “a highly partisan, Republican, emaciated COVID relief bill,” and he called the vote on the legislation “pointless.”
Democrats oppose a provision in the bill that provides lawsuit liability protections for schools, healthcare facilities, and businesses. Democrats also oppose provisions providing federal aid to homeschoolers and private schools, which they argued would hurt public school funding.
Republicans urged Democrats to support the bill, arguing the measure provides needed relief without further exploding the debt.
“Once again, Democrats are objecting, and it’s the same old song — the Republicans’ bill doesn’t spend enough,” Majority Whip John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said ahead of the vote.
Neither Republican nor Democratic lawmakers said they have a clear idea of what will happen next with the stalled effort to pass another coronavirus aid package. Congress has passed about $2.9 trillion in aid since March, but both parties agree more money is needed for the unemployed, healthcare, schools, and other entities struggling as a result of the prolonged effects of the virus.
Talks on a new package have been stalled since July, and Congress is likely to adjourn by early October in order to allow lawmakers to campaign ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have suggested they could restart talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Schumer said Mnuchin was willing to consider a package worth $1.5 trillion, but Democrats believe that amount is also too little.
Democrats want about $1 trillion for state, local, and tribal governments to make up for lost tax revenue and $25 billion for the U.S. Post Service, for example.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, told reporters Thursday that Mnuchin and the Republicans may eventually agree to add money for state and local governments.
“I’m optimistic,” Pelosi said. “I do hope.”
House Democrats passed a $3 trillion coronavirus aid package in May and have since raised the cost of their proposal to $3.7 trillion.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican and a centrist, called on Democrats to back the bill even though it fell short of their proposal and included items even she “would just as soon have jettisoned,” including the school choice aid.
Murkowski said the money is desperately needed for small businesses “that have been feeling, just a kick in the gut on a daily basis in my state.”
