The US Senate failed to approve a coronavirus relief package on Thursday.
Democrats in the Senate said the Republican-sponsored rescue package doesn’t provide enough relief.
The Senate voted 52 to 47 in Thursday’s vote.
All the present Democrats voted against, while conservative Rand Paul, R-Ky., cast the only GOP vote against the measure.
The Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, was campaigning in Miami and missed the vote.
Last week Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said the bill wasn’t enough to help parts of the hard-hit nation.
“Republicans may call their proposal ‘skinny,’ but it would be more appropriate to call it ’emaciated,’” he said in a letter to the caucus. Their proposal appears to be completely inadequate and, by every measure, fails to meet the needs of the American people.
“With no money for rental assistance, no money for nutrition assistance, and no money for state and local services, the census, or safe elections, [Majority] Leader [Mitch] McConnell and Senate Republicans would be making another unacceptable and ineffective attempt at providing relief,” he added.
Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the third-ranking GOP senator, told reporters last week that the Republican proposal was a “focused, targeted” solution.
This is not the first proposal the Senate has considered for coronavirus relief as Democrats and Republicans have differed on how best to earmark funds and aid. Thursday’s vote was for the fifth proposal for a rescue package.
In a statement last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the sides “continue to have serious differences understanding the gravity of the situation that America’s working families are facing.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he and President Donald Trump want to “move forward on a bipartisan basis on points we can agree upon.”
It is unlikely the Senate will consider a sixth proposal for coronavirus relief before the November election
Photo courtesy: Pexels
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
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