<![CDATA[US Senate passes coronavirus relief bill, setting up signing by Donald Trump]>
The US Senate approved an emergency coronavirus aid bill on Wednesday, which is expected to be quickly signed into law by President Donald Trump.
Among its sweeping provisions, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act assures paid leave for those diagnosed with or caring for someone affected by Covid-19, free testing for all, including the uninsured, and bolstered food assistance programmes.
The bill passed by a vote of 90-8.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was criticised last week for his decision to send senators home for a long weekend while House Democrats, keen to secure the Trump administration's backing before sending the bill to the Senate, remained locked in negotiations with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Senators' absence from Capitol Hill proved to be inconsequential. Despite an overwhelming vote on the House floor in favour of the bill early on Saturday morning, the legislation remained in the lower chamber over the weekend while a number of technical corrections to its language were made.
Republican Senator Charles Grassley said the Senate received the House's amended bill shortly before 10am on Tuesday, criticising Democrats for blaming the hold-up on McConnell.
"They know better," he tweeted. "Stop the politics!"
The administration had forced a number of amendments to the original House bill, including adding paid leave exceptions for businesses with more than 500 employees and the option for small companies with fewer than 50 people to seek hardship waivers.
On Twitter over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi she still hoped that large employers would "step up to the plate and offer paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave to their workers".
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was criticised last week for his decision to send senators home for a long weekend while House Democrats remained locked in negotiations with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Photo: AP alt=Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was criticised last week for his decision to send senators home for a long weekend while House Democrats remained locked in negotiations with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Photo: AP
Some Republicans, including Senator Tom Cotton, had called for further amendments to the bill, citing concerns that its provisions did "not go far enough [or] fast enough".
Others took a more pragmatic approach, calling for the bill's swift passage despite disagreements, to clear the stage for further legislation. Noting that the Democrats' House bill had the backing of the White House, Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters on Tuesday that there was "no chance in hell" his Republican colleagues could have improved the bill in the Senate.
"Gag and vote for it anyway," McConnell advised Republican senators who believed there were shortcomings in the legislation, adding that lawmakers must reassure the US public that Congress could respond to the outbreak on a bicameral and bipartisan basis.
McConnell's counsel did not stop senators trying to add three late-stage amendments to the bill, including one from Rand Paul, a Republican that would have required ending US military operations in Afghanistan, along with other non-coronavirus related provisions.
The unlikely amendment was struck down by a vote of 95 to 3.
McConnell on Tuesday had called on senators to address any shortcomings in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in upcoming legislation that Senate Republicans have begun drafting in conjunction with the Trump administration
After meetings with Senate Republicans on Tuesday, Mnuchin estimated the value of the package at around US$1 trillion.
Future legislation is expected to include the direct distribution of cheques to Americans to help blunt the outbreak's economic blow.
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill later on Tuesday, Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, said the idea of direct cash injections had resonated more strongly with Republican members of the chamber than the notion of payroll tax cuts, given the immediacy of the relief that such a measure would bring.
Covid-19 cases and deaths caused by the disease in the US now stand at more than 5,000 and 93, respectively.
Lawmakers' weighing of further legislative responses to the outbreak comes as the virus has made its way into Capitol Hill itself, with a second case among congressional staffers emerging over the weekend. Several members of both chambers have undergone self-isolation after being in contact with confirmed cases.
Some lawmakers have closed down their offices and shifted to working remotely, but debates and votes in the legislative body, where the average age of members is about 60, have continued in-person.
The time it takes the Senate to conduct a roll-call vote has increased by 15 to 30 minutes to allow for greater social distancing.
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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