LEE KRAMER'S ROOM: With Views

[BullNBear52]

Manchin as it turned out needs some serious arm twisting on unemployment. He voted for the Portman amendment only to come back and cancel that vote out with a different version.



...The version of the bill passed by the House last week would have raised the current weekly payment from $300 to $400, extending that benefit through August.

But earlier Friday, Senate Democrats agreed to an amendment from Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) that would have lowered the benefit to $300 and extended it through the end of September, in addition to providing up to $10,200 in tax relief for laid-off workers without any income restrictions.

The latest deal means that federal unemployment benefits will now expire on Labor Day, when the Senate is scheduled to be in recess. The prior deal would have ensured that benefits expired closer to a government funding deadline at the end of September, providing a natural legislative vehicle if another extension is needed.

The protracted delay in the Senate came as Manchin weighed a proposal from Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) that would have extended the $300 unemployment benefits until July 18 — amounting to a cut from both Carper‘s proposal and the House bill.

Earlier, the Senate passed Portman’s unemployment amendment to extend $300 weekly benefits through July, with Manchin voting in support as expected, 50-49. But that amendment was canceled out by the Manchin compromise, which Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) offered as an amendment and Manchin also supported.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/05/covid-aid-bill-senate-vote-amendments-473805