Senate to debate virus relief amid tightened Capitol security
WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — The Senate is expected to convene Thursday to debate President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, while the House canceled its session following warnings of a potential plot to breach the Capitol.
The House had been scheduled to debate and vote on a police reform bill Thursday, but House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced all of the chamber's votes would be canceled for the remainder of the week. A Democratic aide said plans changed due in part to the warning from the U.S. Capitol Police Department, which obtained intelligence that "an identified militia group" could present a security threat on Thursday.
The day has drawn attention from far-right conspiracy theorists who've falsely claimed that former President Donald Trump, who was defeated by Biden in the Nov. 3 election, will be sworn in for a second term Thursday. March 4 was the original presidential inauguration day until 1933, when it was moved to Jan. 20.
The Senate is scheduled to convene as planned at 12 p.m. ET, and is expected to consider a motion to launch 20 hours of debate on the president's virus relief bill.
The legislation would provide funding for vaccines and medical supplies, extend jobless assistance and offer a new round of emergency financial aid to households, small businesses and state and local governments.
Biden and Democrats reached a compromise Wednesday to tighten the bill's upper-income limits at which people could qualify for stimulus checks. Under the agreement, those checks would end for individuals making $80,000 and couples earning $160,000.
The version the House approved last Saturday would gradually phase down those amounts and reach zero for individuals making $100,000 and couples earning $200,000.
The compromise means that 9 million fewer households will receive a stimulus payment than in the last tranche of payouts in 2020.
Another provision sought by the Biden administration – a raise to the federal minimum wage – was dropped after the Senate parliamentarian ruled last week it could not be included.
Under former President Trump, the then-Republican-controlled Senate passed several massive coronavirus relief packages. However, Republican senators are balking at the price tag of Biden's bill.
In a speech on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called the bill a "vast catalog of liberal spending" packed with "crazy provisions" unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 518,000 Americans and left millions jobless.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson told a Wisconsin radio station on Wednesday that he planned to drag the process out by requiring the reading of the entire bill, instead of merely the title, as is customary. The House version of the bill is 630 pages long.
But Democrats hope Biden can sign it into law before March 14, when some of the current benefits run out.
“This is not a liberal wish list,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “This is an American wish list. When people want checks to help them get out of the morass, that's not a liberal wish list. That's what the American people want.”
In the Senate, bills usually require the support of 60 senators. But the coronavirus relief bill is being advanced under a legislative maneuver known as reconciliation that allows passage with a simple majority vote.
The 48 Senate Democrats and the two independents who caucus with them control 50 seats, exactly half the 100-seat chamber, but Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, can cast votes to break ties.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.