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The package provides another round of stimulus checks, aid for state and local governments, and more help for small businesses and schools. The party-line vote is a significant break from the previous five coronavirus bills, each of which passed with bipartisan support.
The Senate was in session for more than 24 hours, including all night Friday and well into Saturday, ahead of the final vote as Democrats fended off attempts by GOP senators to make changes to the legislation, which now has to go back to the House before it can be sent to President Biden’s desk.
The House will take up the bill on Tuesday for a vote and plans to send it to Biden s desk for a signature early next week, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
Johnson told colleagues Wednesday that he would force the Senate clerks to read the entirety of Senate Democrats’ substitute relief bill, which is expected to span more than 600 pages, something that will delay the floor debate and amendments by 10 hours.
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He also is trying to muster enough Republican colleagues to prolong a series of amendment votes as long as possible.
“Right now I’ve got a fair amount of support in the conference. We’ll see how that support continues in the wee hours of the morning and into tomorrow, Saturday, into Sunday,” he said.
He says the plan is to keep the $1.9 trillion bill in the spotlight long enough to turn public sentiment against the popular legislation, but it’s a risky strategy, as a recent poll showed that 76 percent of voters and 60 percent of Republicans support the bill.