Updated
Mar 09, 2021
Senate Works Through Night On Path To Pass Historic COVID-19 Aid
The critical coronavirus relief bill got closer to passage after Senate leaders and key moderate Sen. Joe Manchin struck a deal on jobless benefits.
Alan Fram
WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate worked through the night and past sunrise Saturday on Democrats’ showpiece $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill after a deal between leaders and moderate Sen. Joe Manchin on emergency jobless benefits broke a logjam that had stalled the package.
The compromise, announced by Manchin, D-W.Va., and a Democratic aide late Friday and backed by President Joe Biden, cleared the way for the Senate to begin a marathon series of votes on amendments before eventual approval of the sweeping legislation. The bill then would return to the House, which was expected to give it final congressional approval and send it to Biden to sign.
Updated
Mar 02, 2021
Democrats Push Biden To Avoid Major Mistake Of Last Economic Recovery
Ten senators want to make direct payments and unemployment insurance extensions automatic until the economy recovers.
Ten Democratic senators are pushing President Joe Biden to make direct payments and the extension of boosted unemployment insurance benefits automatic until the economy fully recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, aiming to take the fate of the recovery out of the hand of politicians and avoiding a key mistake of the Democratic plan to recover from the financial collapse of 2008.
Led by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the senators are pushing Biden and the rest of the Democratic Party to include what are called “automatic stabilizers” in his Build Back Better plan, which is expected to be written this spring and summer and aims to jump-start the economic recovery. The stabilizers would automatically extend enhanced unemployment benefits and issue direct payments to American
WASHINGTON Acting in his unofficial role as “consoler-in-chief,” President Joe Biden took some time Friday to comfort the families of those lost in yesterday’s airstrike with an eloquent speech on the challenges of living with heartbreaking loss. “Take it from me, folks, I know just how difficult it is to have those you love most taken from you suddenly and without warning,” said Biden, his voice dropping with obvious emotion as he spoke about the overwhelming power of grief to shape people’s lives. “The world can seem like a cruel place sometimes when a senseless, tragic act like this happens to a family member, but I want you to know, and I hope you can take some solace in this, you will make it through this. The pain and the sorrow never leave, but, in time, you can learn to live with the anguish, and you can learn to embrace those loved ones you have left all the more.” Biden added that his heart broke anew each time he pictured all those who would die from airstrik
Republicans Are Pushing A Wave Of Voter Restrictions. Democratsâ Top Priority Would Stop Them.
Trumpâs election lies inspired new voter restrictions that could be nullified if Democrats pass the For The People Act.
Ex-President Donald Trumpâs lies about election fraud did not just lead to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol meant to overturn a free and fair democratic election. His lies also led to a new wave of more than 250 voting restriction bills introduced by Republican governors and state legislators across the country that would make it harder to vote.
But almost all of these restrictive laws could be nullified if Congress passes Democratsâ top legislative priority: the For The People Act, a package of voting rights, campaign finance, election and ethics reforms.