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Republicans are blocking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s attempt during a rare Saturday session to force consideration of a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill as the GOP rushes ahead with its effort to confirm right-wing Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court just ahead of the election.
After a speech decrying the Barrett confirmation process as “a very dark moment for the Senate,” Schumer requested unanimous consent for the chamber to take up a revised version of the HEROES Act that the Democrat-controlled House passed earlier this month. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has refused to allow a Senate vote on the bill despite deepening economic suffering across the nation.
Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) objected to Schumer’s request for unanimous consent, dismissing the effort to force debate on the revised HEROES Act as a political ploy.
If passed, the legislation would restore the $600-per-week federal unemployment boost Republicans allowed to expire in July, send another round of $1,200 stimulus checks to most Americans, and provide desperately needed aid to state and local governments.
“It’s an outrage that Senate Republicans are ramming through a radical Supreme Court nominee who will strip healthcare from 23 million Americans during a pandemic while doing nothing to provide economic relief to millions of working-class Americans who desperately need our help,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Saturday.
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In a tweet Saturday, Schumer said Democrats will also attempt to force votes on dozens of other pieces of legislation that McConnell has blocked in recent months.
“220,000 Americans have died from Covid, but the Senate GOP only seems to care about forcing Trump’s nominee through an illegitimate process,” Schumer wrote. “Dems are taking over the floor to demand action on the updated HEROES Act and dozens of other bills McConnell consigned to his legislative trashcan.”
Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, applauded Democrats’ effort, writing that the public “should remember what McConnell is ignoring as he jams through an anti-civil rights SCOTUS justice.”
“Remember: McConnell has the Senate in session right now to rush through Barrett’s nomination,” Gupta tweeted. “Not to pass real Covid relief, or police reform, or voting rights bills. He isn’t working for the people. He is working to stack the courts and entrench power. That’s it.”
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Common Dreams | Radio Free (2020-10-24T16:46:49+00:00) 'Very Dark Moment for the Senate': Republicans Block Consideration of Covid Relief While Rushing Ahead With Barrett Confirmation. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/10/24/very-dark-moment-for-the-senate-republicans-block-consideration-of-covid-relief-while-rushing-ahead-with-barrett-confirmation/
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