The West Virginia Democrat delayed passage as Republicans urged him to support a less generous plan
The Senate had braced for a series of politically tough amendment votes that will stretch late into the night and into Saturday, the last major hurdle senators face before voting on President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority.
But one planned amendment by Ohio GOP Sen. Rob Portman paused the proceedings before they even really began. The Republican proposal would give an additional $300 per week through July to the unemployed. Democrats had sought to give that amount through September, and also make up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits tax free. The underlying relief bill would extend jobless benefits at $400 per week through August.
While his party leaders urged Manchin to support the amendment backed by the White House, the moderate Democrat signaled Friday afternoon to Republicans that he would back Portman’s plan due to his concerns about the tax-free provision.
In a 50-50 Senate, Manchin’s vote is critical. And at least on jobless benefits, it appears the Democrats’ don’t have it.
Democrats see test of unity on minimum wage and jobless benefits
Friday’s amendment votes are already a major test of Democratic unity at a time when Senate Democratic leaders have no margin of error given the 50-50 partisan split of the chamber, where Vice President Kamala Harris is the tie-breaking vote.
Eight senators in the Democratic conference — Jon Tester of Montana, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Angus King of Maine, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Chris Coons and Tom Carper of Delaware — opposed the minimum wage amendment, along with every Republican senator.
The measure is on track to fail 42-58, though as of 4 p.m. ET, the vote was still open as negotiations continued about scheduling the upcoming amendment votes, including on how long federal enhancements to jobless benefits should last.
The Democrat’s amendment extending benefits through September would be introduced by Carper.
That agreement also would create new tax benefits for people who received unemployment insurance by making the first $10,200 in those benefits not taxable. The intent is to make sure people who received the aid are not hit with taxes on the benefit, which could come as a surprise. The amendment will also include an extension of tax rules regarding excess business loss limitations for one more year. These provisions are new and different than the House bill, which includes $400 a week of benefits through August.
But Republicans are eager to try to exploit any divisions within the majority party. And GOP leaders are growing confident that 50 senators will fall in line behind Portman’s alternative jobless benefits extension through July, according to GOP sources familiar with the matter.
“On the positive side, it’s a chance to vote on some things that you wouldn’t get to vote on in the normal course of business,” Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told reporters when asked to sum up the vote-a-rama process for those unfamiliar. “It’s a chance to see how the parties approach a particular issue, the good thing. The other side of the story is, it’s kind of stupid.”
Given the changes the Senate has made to the bill, it will have to go back to the House of Representatives for another vote next week before it can proceed to Biden’s desk to be signed into law.
Votes follow overnight reading
Under the protocols surrounding the bill, the Senate had up to 20 hours for debate, followed by the vote-a-rama. However, following the conclusion of the bill’s reading around 2 a.m. ET Friday, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland rose to ask for a unanimous agreement that the Senate come back at 9 a.m. ET and when they did, only three hours of debate be had before they moved to the vote-a-rama. Because no Republican stood in the chamber and objected , the motion was agreed to, chopping off 17 possible more hours of debate time.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, criticized Republican tactics to slow down the process on Thursday, saying that forcing the full reading of the bill “will merely delay the inevitable” and vowing that “no matter how long it takes, the Senate is going to stay in session to finish the bill this week.”
Schumer on Friday thanked the Senate floor staff for the nearly 11 hours of reading the bill, calling them “the unsung heroes of this place.”
Multiple GOP members and aides familiar with the planning told CNN earlier this week that the plan is to try to peel off Democratic members on a few key amendment votes in order to demonstrate differences within the Democratic ranks as well as create some ripe-for-campaign moments that can be made into political ads later on.
Asked how long it could last, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said, “It’s indefinite. You’ve got lots of people who want to offer lots of amendments.”
“I think we’ve got very good amendments on the issues of the day,” Graham told reporters when asked to explain the strategy. “I’m just focusing on getting the best foot forward in terms of how we would do this differently, what we would do with your money as the American people and what we believe Covid relief should consist of.”
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments Friday.
CNN’s Ali Zaslav, Annie Grayer and Lauren Fox contributed to this report.
