Senator Tom Cotton has led the wave of Republicans slamming Democrats for 'ramming' the COVID relief bill through Congress as he s...
Senator Tom Cotton has led the wave of Republicans slamming Democrats for 'ramming' the COVID relief bill through Congress as he said murderers such as Dylann Roof will be among those getting stimulus checks.
Cotton reeled off a list of notorious criminals including mass murderer Roof, Boston Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and drug trafficker Aaron Shamo who will all receive the $1,400 checks which were approved Saturday as part of the $1.9 trillion package.
Americans earning less than $75,000 are eligible for the payments including the nation's 1.4 million inmate population.
The previous two stimulus checks of $1,200 and $600 were also paid out to inmates.
Where the Arkansas senator voted against the bill put forward by the Democrats Saturday, he voted in favor of each of the bills under the Trump administration that sent the other two checks to the prison population.
Senate Republicans were quick to slam the relief package as soon as it passed Saturday with the group blasting it a 'partisan wishlist' and saying the American people 'deserve better'.
But Biden celebrated his win releasing a video Saturday night saying the package puts the US 'back on the road to recovery' with help on its way to 'immediately' as checks will reach hard-hit Americans 'this month'.
The $1.9 trillion relief package passed through the Senate Saturday with Biden hoping to sign it into law next week once it passes the lower chamber.
Senator Tom Cotton (pictured) has led the wave of Republicans slamming Democrats for 'ramming' the COVID relief bill through Congress as he said murderers such as Dylann Roof will be among those getting stimulus checks
Cotton reeled off a list of notorious criminals who will all receive the $1,400 checks. The previous two stimulus checks were also paid out to inmates and Cotton voted in favor of those
It received no Republican support despite the president's hopes for a bipartisan deal, and Cotton was among the first to voice outrage over the bill.
In a series of tweets, the senator cited a number of criminals in line to get the $1,400 payments.
'Dylann Roof murdered nine people. He's on federal death row. He'll be getting a $1,400 stimulus check as part of the Democrats' 'COVID relief' bill,' he tweeted.
White supremacist and neo-Nazi Roof murdered nine people in the mass shooting in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 2015.
'Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Bomber, murdered three people and terrorized a city,' Cotton wrote in a separate tweet.
'He'll be getting a $1,400 stimulus check as part of the Democrats' 'COVID relief' bill.'
Tsarnaev planted pressure cooker bombs at the Boston Marathon in 2013 with his brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev, setting off explosions that killed three and injured 280 more.
'Aaron Shamo was sentenced to life in prison for selling '1 million fentanyl-laced fake oxycodone pills to unsuspecting buyers.' He'll be getting a $1,400 stimulus check while in prison from the Democrats' 'COVID relief' bill,' tweeted Cotton, referring to the head of a nationwide dark net drug trafficking organization.
Senator Bill Cassidy also tweeted it is 'ridiculous' that prison inmates will receive the $1,400 stimulus checks through the bill when they 'cannot stimulate the economy.'
'Prisoners do not pay taxes. Taxpayers pay for their every need. Inmates cannot stimulate the economy,' he tweeted Saturday.
'But, under this bill they receive stimulus checks. This is a perfect example of nontargeted, inappropriate, and total waste of spending. It's ridiculous that this is in the bill.'
Cassidy, Cotton and Texas Senator Ted Cruz pushed for the bill to be amended Saturday to prevent prisoners receiving the checks but the vote fell on party lines.
Biden celebrated his win releasing a video Saturday night saying the package puts the US 'back on the road to recovery' with help on its way to 'immediately'
The IRS tried to withhold checks from inmates last year but a court ruling in October - and a dismissal of the agency's appeal - said the checks could not be withheld from incarcerated individuals.
Biden said Americans will start receiving their $1,400 stimulus checks in a matter of weeks: 'This plan will get checks out the door starting this month to the Americans that so desperately need the help.'
Based on the timeline for the last two checks, some may start receiving them as soon as March 17.
The House is expected to pass the bill Tuesday, meaning the president could sign it into law the following day. Biden has up to March 14 to sign it but given the need to get relief to American families he is likely to do it as soon as possible.
This means payments could start hitting bank accounts by direct deposit in the week of March 17, followed by paper checks the following week and Economic Impact Payment cards the last week of March.
Senate Republicans are far from happy with the outcome of the package with the group releasing a scathing video slamming the package almost as soon as the votes were counted and hitting out at its lack of bipartisan support.
'Democrats just rammed their 'American Rescue Plan' through the Senate without *any* bipartisan support,' the group tweeted.
'ALL of the other relief bills were bipartisan. ALL of the other relief bills contained compromise.
'The American people deserve better than this partisan wishlist.'
The video claims the bill 'was never about COVID' for the Democratic party and says the bill provides 'Golden State Bailouts... to states that stay closed and shortchange states that reopen.'
Senate Republicans slammed Democrats for 'ramming' the COVID relief bill through Congress and said the American people 'deserve better'
The package, which received no Republican votes despite the president's hopes for bipartisan support, was instantly slammed by Republicans who blasted it a 'partisan wishlist' in this video posted online Saturday
Senator Mike Johnson meanwhile also hit out at the package branding it the 'Biden Bailout' and suggesting Democrats are 'dreaming up new ways to spend trillions of your dollars.'
But Biden hailed the package a 'road to recovery' and 'consequential' with help now on its way to 'our children, our families and healthcare.'
In the video posted online Saturday night, the president said: 'It puts us back on the road to recovery - and beyond that - setting down new principles to care our children, our families and healthcare.
'There's so much more in it but the bottom line is it's going to start almost immediately.
'So thank you very much, keep the faith, there's so much more we have to do but this is consequential.'
The video, titled 'What will the American Rescue Plan do for you?', came after an equally jovial speech from the White House Saturday afternoon where the president hailed the 'bipartisan support of the American people' - even though far-left Democrats can still block it in the House.
'This nation has suffered too much for much too long. And everything in this package is designed to relieve the suffering and to meet the most urgent needs of the nation, and put us in a better position to prevail,' he said.
Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy also fumed that the checks will be sent to prisoners
Senator Mike Johnson meanwhile branded the package the 'Biden Bailout' and suggested Democrats are 'dreaming up new ways to spend trillions of your dollars'
'When we took office 45 days ago, I promised the American people help was on the way. Today I can say we've taken one more giant step forward on delivering on that promise — that help is on the way.'
Biden thanked Vice President Kamala Harris and senators 'who worked so hard to reach a compromise' after cuts to unemployment benefits were agreed to secure the support of moderate Democrat Joe Manchin.
Biden, who prides himself on his bipartisanship, tried to deflect attention from the lack of any Republican support for the bill by pointing to its overwhelming popularity among voters of all political persuasions.
'I really want to thank the American people for making all this possible,' he said. 'How did they make it possible? Quite frankly, without the overwhelming, bipartisan support of the American people, this would not have happened.'
Biden was later seen attending the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in the Georgetown neighborhood of DC.
The president hopes to sign the bill into law next week providing it passes the lower chamber, where it is being introduced in a substantially amended form due to opposition from moderate Democrats to some of its most generous provisions.
The package passed after cutting direct payments, reducing unemployment benefits and failing on $15 minimum wage.
Like the bill, the reaction to it has been largely split down party lies with Democrats largely praising the outcome. 'Help is on the way,' tweeted Representative Adam Schiff
Biden hopes to sign the bill into law next week providing it passes the House, meaning $1,400 stimulus checks could soon be on their way to households across the country
Senators passed the stimulus bill along direct party lines at just after midday EST Saturday
Like the bill, the reaction to it has been largely split down party lines with Democrats largely praising the outcome.
'The Senate just passed COVID relief. $1,400 relief checks. Funding for vaccines. Money to reopen schools. Food, unemployment, and rental assistance.
'Cutting child poverty in half. Help for small businesses. We must end this pandemic. And help is on the way,' tweeted Representative Adam Schiff.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the bill's passing: 'We tell the American people: help is on the way'.
Citing the country's desire to return to normality, he added: 'Our job right now is to help our country get from this stormy present to that hopeful future.'
The Senate Majority Leader later told The Associated Press in an interview: 'Lessons learned: If we have unity, we can do big things' adding that it 'gives us optimism about doing more big things in the future - because it worked.'
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the bill a 'tremendous step forward' in providing help to families and small businesses hurting during the coronavirus pandemic.
'It honors our heroes – our health care workers, food, sanitation and transportation workers, and teachers – who are on the frontlines on the state and local level.
'It crushes the virus with the equitable and immediate distribution of the vaccine. And it puts our children safely back in school and puts workers back on the job.'
Senator Debbie Stabenow said some Democrats were almost in tears - as they ushered the massive aid package they had promised voters to approval.
President Joe Biden departs Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington DC Saturday
Biden waved to bystanders as he attended church in the Georgetown neighborhood
His visit came after he celebrated the passing of his $1.9trillion relief package through the Senate
Biden hopes to sign the bill into law next week providing it passes the lower chamber
'Only 45 days after Joe Biden became president of the United States, to be able to do something so big, and so significant, that fundamentally is the glue for us,' she said.
Senator Sherrod Brown described it as the 'best day' he'd ever had in the Senate and brushed off McConnell's criticism of the bill as cynical and unsubstantial.
'Nobody cares about that. What they care about is, did we deliver on unemployment? Did we deliver on vaccines? Did we deliver on pensions? We cut the rate of child poverty in half. Think about that,' he said.
Senator Raphael Warnock, one of two Democrat senators appointed in January to the seats that swung the chamber blue, said his constituents in Georgia 'deserve a great deal of credit' for the day's outcome.
'The people of Georgia deserve a great deal of credit for what happened here today,' he said.
'Had they not stood up in such a powerful way, in this historic election that sent Jon Ossoff and myself to the Senate, we simply would not be here.'
Meanwhile former Democratic lawmakers also tweeted their support.
Barack Obama tweeted: 'Elections matter—and we're seeing why. Congratulations to the Biden Administration and to the American people on a COVID relief bill that will improve the lives of families across the country.'
And Hillary Clinton wrote: 'The American Rescue Plan is one of the most ambitious pieces of legislation in a generation. It will materially help families in dire need. It will help end this pandemic. It will cut child poverty in half. Lots more to do. But let's celebrate this hard-fought progress.'
'We tell the American people, help is on the way,' said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y
Former president Barack Obama told Biden 'congratulations' in a tweet, adding: 'Elections matter - and we're seeing why'
Hillary Clinton called the bill 'one of the most ambitious pieces of legislation in a generation'
Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor Saturday as the huge stimulus package was passed
After laboring through the night on a mountain of amendments - nearly all from Republicans, all of which were rejected - senators approved the sprawling package on a 50-49 vote along party lines just after midday Saturday EST.
The Senate had been in session since 9am Friday, with work on the bill proving to be a test of both lawmakers' physical stamina and Democrats' ability to pass legislation backed by every senator in the party.
Following a compromise over benefits, Moderate Democrat Joe Manchin voted with his party colleagues. VP Kamala Harris was not needed to break the tie because Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan returned to Alaska for a funeral.
'We tell the American people: help is on the way,' said Schumer. Citing the country's desire to return to normality, he added: 'Our job right now is to help our country get from this stormy present to that hopeful future.'
Progressive Democrats are angry at the size of the package, with Ilhan Omar calling it 'very disappointing'. She added: 'We obviously are now ultimately sending money to less people than the Trump administration.'
It came as Democratic Senator for Arizona Kyrsten Sinema was slammed by her own party for 'flippantly' copying John McCain's famous 'thumbs down' to help kill Bernie Sanders' minimum wage amendment.
Sen. Sinema, 44, sided with Republicans and seven other senators as she voted down the Sanders amendment - but it was the way her vote was cast that caused a social media uproar.
Sinema, who entered the Senate in January 2019 after serving in the U.S. House and Arizona state Legislature, was shown standing on the House floor, flashing a thumbs down and curtsying as her name was called to cast her vote.
It was similar to the memorable moment when McCain signaled a thumbs down when he failed to side with other Republicans to overturn the Affordable Care Act in 2017.
After Biden previously predicted that a $15 per hour minimum wage increase would not end up being included in his relief package, eight Senate Democrats joined Republicans on Friday in opposing Sanders' bid to include it.
Progressive Democrats were also frustrated at a Senate agreement to reduce eligibility for $1,400 stimulus checks.
This will see the amount gradually reduced until it reaches zero for people earning $80,000 and couples making $160,000.
When asked if she thought this was Biden 'abandoning progressives' Omar responded by calling the vote a 'very disappointing development.'
'You know, the Senate Majority Republicans were willing to. There are going to be 17 million people who will get less money. This is not the promise that we made.
'This is not what we are given the opportunity to be in the majority in the Senate and have the White House.
'So ultimately, it is a failure when we compromise ourselves out of delivering on behalf of the American people and in keeping our promises.'
It came as Manchin struck a deal late on Friday with Senate leaders over emergency jobless benefits, breaking a nine-hour logjam that had stalled the party's showpiece bill.
Jobless workers will now receive $300 per week, on top of benefits offered by their state unemployment system, until September 6.
That is $100 per week less than the unemployment benefit passed by the House.
The bill will now be shipped back to the House - which is expected to give final congressional approval and whisk the bill to President Joe Biden for his signature.
The legislation will provide direct payments of up to $1,400 to most Americans and money for COVID-19 vaccines and testing, aid to state and local governments, help for schools and the airline industry and subsidies for health insurance.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, has expressed her dismay at the size of the package after lawmakers cut direct payments, reduced unemployment benefits and removed a hike of the minimum wage to $15
Earlier Friday, lawmakers responded to the gridlock while pressure was put on Manchin.
'I feel bad for Joe Manchin. I hope the Geneva Convention applies to him,' joked Republican Senator John Thune to reporters on Capitol Hill.
'I just think that the Democrats right now are in a bit of a quandary.'
He continued: 'I mean, they've essentially stopped action on the floor so that they can try and persuade, I think, all their members to stay together on some of these votes.'
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said of Manchin. 'I don't know where they're at. The public needs to know. Save Joe Manchin!'
'I think they're trying to wear down Joe Manchin, who is intent on making sure we don't spend more than we have to. This is on unemployment insurance,' Republican Sen. Mitt Romney told reporters of the hold up.
Moderate Democrats, led by Sen. Tom Carper, had offered an amendment to lower federal unemployment benefits to $300 from $400 per week but to then extend the payments from August until October.
Manchin had reportedly favored a Republican amendment that would have the $300 weekly payments run through July, before the deal was struck.
Democratic Senators Krysten Sinema, Jon Tester and Catherine Cortez Masto cornered Manchin on the Senate floor after senators rejected an effort by Bernie Sanders to include a $15 an hour minimum wage in the package.
When the lawmakers realized their efforts to persuade Manchin were being watched by reporters, they moved back into one of cloakrooms of the Senate floor to speak more privately.
The vote on Sanders' amendment was the first on 422 amendments filed. Not every amendment will get a vote and some will be voted on in blocks to try and speed up the process.
Before the unemployment benefits drama began, senators voted 58-42 to kill a top progressive priority, a gradual increase in the current $7.25 hourly minimum wage to $15 over five years.
Eight Democrats voted against the proposal, suggesting that Sanders and other progressives vowing to continue the effort in coming months will face a difficult fight.
But eight hours after that minimum wage roll call began, it still hadn't been formally gaveled to a close as all Senate work ceased while Democrats struggled to resolve their unemployment benefits problem.
Voting continued on the bill Saturday before passing around midday. Senator for Arizona Kyrsten Sinema was earlier slammed by her own party for 'flippantly' copying John McCain's famous 'thumbs down' to help kill Bernie Sanders' minimum wage amendment
Sinema's vote was compared on social media to the memorable moment when late Arizona Senator John McCain signaled a thumbs down when he failed to side with other Republicans to overturn the Affordable Care Act in 2017 (as pictured above)
By holding open the vote, they prevented any senator from addressing the floor or making a motion. The vote on Sanders' amendment began at 11:03 a.m. ET.
Amid all the drama, the White House wouldn't say whether President Biden had personally called the West Virginia senator to try to get him on board.
'The President supports a compromise so that we can pass the Rescue Plan and get relief out, and he and his team are staying in close contact with Senators to find a resolution that will deliver for Americans who need help the most,' a White House official told DailyMail.com.
Others called out how she had been trying to talk to Mitch McConnell just moments before
Social media users hit Sinema with criticism for the way in which she cast her vote
Democratic Senator from West Virginia Joe Manchin, left, and Republican Senator from Texas John Cornyn, right, walk to the Senate chamber as the Senate begins a so-called 'vote-a-rama'
Senator Kyrsten Sinema (pictured) was among seven Democrats and one Independent to vote against the $15 per hour minimum wage amendment on Friday
Republican senators had offered multiple amendments to the bill, which Democrats claim is necessary to help the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The GOP protests the bill's cost and claim it's filled with progressive priorities.
'Votearama is upon us,' said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham before Friday's action started. 'Stay hydrated. Try to keep good cheer. We're going to have lots of amendments today and kind of talk about where we differ on certain things, which will be good for the country.'
'It's going to be a long day,' he added.
Sen. Bernie Sanders shot back: 'Bring it on. We're ready.'
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of 'ramming through an ideological spending spree packed with non COVID related policies.'
Harris had to rush up to the Capitol on Thursday afternoon to break a tie vote to allow the Senate to start debate on the relief package.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said of Manchin as the Senate stalled. 'I don't know where they're at. The public needs to know. Save Joe Manchin!'
The Senate on Friday will begin a massive vote-a-rama on amendments from Republicans, led by GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell that will challenge Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's to keep Democrats together
After she cast her vote, Johnson made his motion to have the bill read aloud.
Bill readings are almost always dispensed with at the start to allow for debate, but Johnson saw it as way to register his frustration over the massive outlay of federal spending.
'I feel bad for the clerks that are going to have to read it, but it's just important,' said Johnson, who has already faced criticism this week for suggesting the deadly January 6 US Capitol riot was not an 'armed insurrection.'
'Why are we authorizing another $1.9 trillion when we still have a trillion dollars sitting on the sidelines' unspent from the previous pandemic relief bills? he told reporters.
'It's actually hard to spend this much money.'
Sen. Bernie Sanders' began Friday's vote-a-rama with an amendment to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour
Harris had to rush up to the Capitol on Thursday afternoon to break a tie vote to allow the Senate to start debate on the relief package
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