Bernie Sanders Explains How Democrats Could Pass Third Stimulus Check Without Republicans | The State
Senator Bernie Sanders.
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SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images
The senator Bernie sanders (Vermont) believes that Democrats have a chance to pass a new economic stimulus package without having to convince Republicans in the Senate.
It would be a simple majority vote, that is, 50 plus one, which the Democrats add with the extra vote of the president of the Senate, the vice president. Kamala harris. It is about the strategy of Budget Reconciliation.
“We are going to use reconciliation, that is, 50 votes in the Senate plus the vice president, to pass legislation that working families desperately need in this country at this time,” the senator said on CNN.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy pelosi (California), could ipush for the approval of a first project the following week with the $ 1,400 per person, but the problem for the Democrats would be in the Senate, where several Republicans are opposed.
What does it consist of?
One of the rules in Congress is that the budget cannot be stagnant due to stubbornness or what is known as a “filibuster,” an action that senators use to delay a vote indefinitely.
“Instead of needing 60 votes, a reconciliation bill only needs a simple majority in the Senate,” explains the House Budget Committee. “Reconciliation begins with the resolution of the congressional budget”.
The plan, it is added, must be applied with the support of several committees, which draft the bill to be approved and the Budget Committee integrates them into one.
“That bill has a special status in the Senate,” it adds. “Since the budget cannot be obstructed, it only needs a simple majority to pass.”
Senator defends action
Sanders has criticized this process on other occasions, but defends this time because he considers it a crisis and the money would go to those who need it most in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2017 he said that the Republicans used it “to grant tax breaks to billionaires,” but the end of the Democrats was different.
“Yes, I criticized them for that. And if they want to criticize me for helping to feed the children who are hungry or the elderly in this country who are isolated and alone and do not have enough food, they can criticize me “Sanders said.
Although the administration of President Joe Biden acknowledges that the approval of the $ 1.9 trillion plan could take several weeks or even be modified, it is confident that Congressmen will move forward.
Sanders considered that the Democrats cannot wait “weeks, weeks, months and months to move on,” but did not give a specific date for approval of the new check.
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