Negotiations continue after US Senate again fails to move coronavirus bill forward

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Congressional leaders are continuing discussions about the third coronavirus bill after senators failed to advance the measure for the second-straight day.

The Senate voted 49-46 Monday to invoke cloture on the legislation, short of the three-fifths majority needed to end debate. Five senators were absent from the vote because of the coronavirus, including Republican Rand Paul fo Kentucky, the first senator with a confirmed case.

The $1.6 trillion measure would provide payments to individuals, as well as funding for hospitals and medical providers, purchasing medical equipment and COVID-19 research.

Democrats have voiced opposition to the proposal, arguing the measure prioritizes corporations by offering $500 billion in support. The Senate failed to invoke cloture in a similar vote on Sunday.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., voted to move forward with the bill, while Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., joined most of his colleagues in opposing the motion. Alabama Democrat Doug Jones voted to invoke cloture.

“You can throw all the money at Wall Street you want to,” Manchin said on the Senate floor. “You can continue to put trillions upon trillions. People are afraid to leave their home.”

Manchin mentioned West Virginia health care facilities are struggling to manage supplies as cases increase.

“It looks like we’re worried more about the economy than we are the health care and the well-being of the people of America,” he said.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., voiced frustration about the process when speaking to reporters before the vote.

“I was really disappointed and perplexed by that,” she said of Sunday’s vote. “It’s just evolved into another partisan bickering on the Senate floor.”

During Manchin’s remarks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., challenged Manchin and Democrats for not moving to advance the bill.

“We’ve been fiddling around for two days on the motion to proceed,” McConnell said. “If — my friend — if that were invoked, there’s still 30 more hours on the motion post-cloture on the motion to proceed.”

Manchin argued the measure is “weighted” toward large companies and would not restore the confidence of Americans who lost their jobs because of the pandemic.

“If you can’t give my people in West Virginia and across this country the feeling we have a treatment and we’re moving toward a vaccine, they’re not going to leave their homes. My restaurants are not going to open up,” he said.

As negotiations proceed, Capito warned of sweeping bills legislators use to insert provisions on unrelated matters, causing discussions to fall apart.

“Now is not the time for that,” she said.

“We’re not all going to agree on the best package, but this package — in my view — has everything in it, that we need to jump-start this right away.”

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act on Monday. The $2.5 trillion proposal sets aside more resources compared to the related Senate legislation and places new rules on corporations, including temporarily prohibiting stock buybacks.

Capito took notice of several provisions of the bill Monday evening, including the proposed cancellation of the Postal Service’s debt.

“What do any of these have to do with stopping the spread of coronavirus or helping workers whose hours have been cut or businesses that are having to lay people off?” she posted on social media.





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