Minimum wage hike falls short as Senate debates virus bill

Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to break the tie on a procedural vote as the Senate works on the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 4, 2021.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., leaves a Republican policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 4, 2021. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah,

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., carries containers of food as he leaves a Senate Republican policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 4, 2021. Johnson insisted that the entire text of the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill be read aloud during its consideration.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to the media, Tuesday, March 2, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

As the Senate gets set to take up the massive COVID relief bill, Republicans are criticizing Democrats for failing to move quickly enough to reopen schools.

President Joe Biden, fourth from left, Vice President Kamala Harris, top left, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, center right, meet with House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Rep. Peter DeFazio Ore., second from left, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., second from right, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., bottom left, and other members of the House of Representatives in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 4, 2021, on infrastructure. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Vice Chair Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., is at right.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., arrives at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, March 5, 2021, as the Senate steers toward a voting marathon on the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that’s expected to end with the chamber’s approval of the measure.

Dems trim jobless benefits, Senate debates virus relief bill

Workers from the Architect of the Capitol office deliver hand sanitizer dispensers for lawmakers in Washington, Friday, March 5, 2021, as the Senate steers toward a voting marathon on Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that’s expected to end with the chamber’s approval of the measure.

The Senate steered toward a voting marathon on Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill on Friday after enduring an extraordinary half-day holdup forced by a Republican foe of President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority.

By ALAN FRAM
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate seemingly killed progressives’ last-ditch effort to include a minimum wage hike in the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill Friday, as the chamber began climactic votes on the huge package embodying President Joe Biden’s top legislative priority.

Senators voted 58-42 against the increase, though the vote wasn’t yet formally gaveled to a close. Eight Democrats voted against the proposal, suggesting that Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and other progressives vowing to continue the fight in coming months will face a difficult fight.

Though the number of Democrats opposing the proposal was a surprise, its defeat was not. Solid Republican opposition had guaranteed in advance that proponents would fall well short of the 60 votes needed to win. The proposal would boost the federal minimum wage to $15 hourly by 2025, up from its current $7.25.

The overall bill, aimed at battling the killer virus and nursing the staggered economy back to health, will provide direct payments of up to $1,400 to most Americans. There’s also money for COVID-19 vaccines and testing, aid to state and local governments, help for schools and the airline industry, tax breaks for lower-earners and families with children, and subsidies for health insurance.

The Senate had voted 51-50 Thursday to begin debating the legislation, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the pivotal tie-breaking vote. That nail-biter and the eleventh-hour deals Democratic leaders were cutting with rank-and-file lawmakers reflected the delicate task they faced of moving the measure through the precariously divided 50-50 chamber. The package faces a solid wall of GOP opposition.

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