Washington — The Senate will vote Wednesday on a coronavirus relief bill passed by the House last week that provides free testing and paid leave for certain workers, a legislative package that represents “phase two” of a multi-stage effort by the Trump administration and Congress to address the fallout of the pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the chamber will vote later in the day to pass the measure and urged fellow senators to support it.
“Later today the Senate will vote on a House proposal that seeks to address one small piece of the problem before us. It is a well-intentioned bipartisan product assembled by House Democrats and President Trump’s team that tries to stand up and expand some new relief measures for American workers,” he said on the Senate floor.
“I will vote to pass their bill,” he continued. “This is a time for urgent bipartisan action, and in this case I do not think we should let perfection be the enemy of something that will help even a subset of American workers.”
The House passed the relief bill shortly after midnight on Saturday following lengthy negotiations between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The bill passed on a bipartisan basis with President Trump’s endorsement.
The House package includes free coronavirus testing, expanded funding for food security programs, increased funding for Medicaid and state unemployment insurance, and paid sick, family and medical leave for workers at companies with 500 employees or fewer. The majority of workers in the country work at companies with more than 500 employees.
Republican Senator Ron Johnson is expected to offer an amendment to the House bill which would remove the paid leave mandate while expanding eligibility for unemployment insurance for workers who lose their jobs during the crisis.
McConnell said in a press conference on Capitol Hill on Tuesday that senators will first vote on an earlier aid package that passed the House over the weekend before moving on to a much larger “phase three” deal outlined by administration officials just hours before.
“We’re going to move in warp speed for the Senate, which almost never does anything quickly,” McConnell said. “These are not ordinary times. This is not an ordinary situation, and so it requires extraordinary measures.”
A senior Republican official told CBS News that the “phase three” package may cost upwards of $1 trillion and is likely to include roughly $50 billion in assistance for airlines, $250 to $300 billion in small business loans and $250 billion in direct payments for Americans to be paid in April.
McConnell said Tuesday that senators will remain in Washington until they approve a phase three deal. “We’re not leaving town until we have constructed and passed another bill,” he said.
Arden Farhi contributed to this report.
