OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia voted with Republicans against the COVID relief bill, according to The Western Journal.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to increase the minimum wage within the coronavirus relief package.
According to the Congressional Budget Office raising the minimum wage would cost Americans approximately 1.4 million jobs.
10 million jobs were lost in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote, “Democrats triggered the ‘Byrd rule’ – which limits the type of provisions in the reconciliation process to taxing and spending. The purpose is to limit an add-on through reconciliation to measures designed to have a direct impact on the federal budget—barring the use of reconciliation to introduce ‘extraneous’ measures. Otherwise, reconciliations could circumvent the normal legislative process and the filibuster option for the minority. The rule allows a senator to object when a reconciliation bill is brought to the floor through a Point of Order on the bill. After the Byrd Rule is raised, the Senate Parliamentarian informs the Presiding Officer on how to rule and the Presiding office conveys that to the Senate. Senators can then vote to overrule the Presiding Officer but the process protects the minority and the parliamentarian by requiring that a vote to overrule secure a three-fifths majority.”
“The Parliamentarian’s role is key to a system of orderly legislative process. To simply disregard such rules (and fire those who seek to maintain them) is yet another example of the rage that has replaced reason in our current politics. Byrd was famous for putting the interests of the Senate and the Constitution before his own party. This effort shows [how] increasingly rare such institutional defenders have become in this age of rage.”
President Biden’s $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill, the American Rescue Plan Act, passed the Senate 50-49 on Saturday.
Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell addressed the Senate before the vote https://t.co/7ur9ZJAPuQ pic.twitter.com/zqHhX3OSAK
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) March 6, 2021
From The Western Journal:
Some small businesses that have so far weathered the COVID-induced lockdowns would immediately be forced to close their doors.
But there was another equally valid reason to remove the minimum wage hike from the bill.
In addition to its effect on the economy, Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the minimum wage hike’s inclusion in the COVID relief bill violated Senate rules, according to CNBC.
Immediately, some Democrats wanted McDonogough fired, as The Washington Post reported.
