Dems buckle up for GOP attempts to scuttle climate, tax and health care bill
“I will vote against every amendment, even their great amendments that look very, very good, which I know will never change the bill because they’ll never vote for it,” said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) in an interview. “I’ll vote against them because I’m going to protect the integrity of the bill that we have come to an agreement and worked on.”
The vote-a-rama came hours after all 50 Democrats voted to begin debate on the package, with unanimous opposition from Senate Republicans. Vice President Kamala Harris broke the tie after the vote was held open for more than two hours.
Earlier in the day, most of the party-line proposal survived tests that determined what could stay in the legislation without subjecting it to a filibuster. The Medicare portions of its prescription drug reform plan could still be included, the Senate parliamentarian ruled, while Democrats lost ground on a separate pillar that would have penalized drug companies for raising prices on individuals with private health insurance. And the legislation’s tax and environmental provisions also advanced unscathed, meaning the guts of the bill remained intact.
“This is one of the most comprehensive and impactful bills Congress has seen in decades,” Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said as he kicked off roll call votes. He called it a “capstone to one of the most productive stretches the Senate has seen in a very long time.”
Just two weeks ago, Democrats were expecting to pass a narrower health care bill that aimed to lower the cost of prescription drugs and extended Affordable Care Act subsidies. But Manchin and Schumer then revealed a new deal that revived proposals to spend big on energy and increase taxes on big corporations.
Once the Senate finishes the vote-a-rama, the chamber will move to pass the bill and send it over to the House, which is scheduled to consider the legislation on Friday.
“We need to keep the deal intact and not let Republicans pick us off. Democrats understand that and that’s what we’re going to do,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). “The only way we’re going to do this is with Democratic votes, we can’t afford to lose anyone and what this means, we are in this boat together.”
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said he will “vote NO on all amendments, even for stuff I like” and was joined by several other Democrats in that vow.
But it’s not just Republicans who are expected to try to change the bill.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he wanted to offer amendments to expand the child tax credit, target fossil fuel companies and expand Medicare benefits and the scale of the drug pricing reform, declaring Saturday that “there’s nobody who can deny that this legislation does not address the major crises facing working families.” Even before the voting marathon kicked off Sanders had already filed an amendment alongside Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to expand the ability to negotiate drug prices.
Sanders would need 49 other senators and the vice president to vote with him to approve them, given certain GOP opposition. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Democratic whip, said leaders are trying to “discourage” that.
Dems buckle up for GOP attempts to scuttle climate, tax and health care bill