McConnell to Force Dems to vote on paying Illegal Immigrants, Funding Schools That Refuse to Open; GOP Scores Budget Victory With Ban on ILLEGALS Getting Checks, and related stories

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

McConnell to force Democrats to vote on paying illegal immigrants, funding schools that refuse to open:

Senate Republicans are set to force Democrats to cast votes on a variety of potentially uncomfortable topics in the coming days, taking advantage of the rules of the budget reconciliation process Democrats are using to advance President Biden's coronavirus stimulus plan while getting around a filibuster.

Debate on the budget resolution, which started Wednesday, will continue in the Senate on Thursday. After that time expires -- Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., predicted that will happen shortly after lunch -- a process called a vote-a-rama begins.

During that time, any senator is entitled to file an amendment to the resolution, which could result in dozens of votes on various provisions going late into the night and even early into Friday morning.

Republicans strongly oppose the fact that Democrats are using reconciliation to advance the coronavirus stimulus and therefore plan to use the vote-a-rama as a way to punish Democrats, extracting a pound of flesh by forcing them into uncomfortable votes.

"The new President talks a lot about unity, but his White House staff and congressional leadership are working from the opposite playbook," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said of the budget reconciliation process. "We’ll be discussing the facts... Senate Republicans will be ready and waiting with a host of amendments to improve the rushed procedural step that’s being jammed through." --->READ MORE HERE

Associated Press photograph

GOP scores budget victory with ban on illegal immigrants getting checks:

Senate Republicans won a change to Democrats’ budget Thursday that would block illegal immigrants from getting checks.

The 58-42 vote came as the chamber was voting on dozens of amendments to the budget, which will clear a path for President Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic recovery plan.

Democrats envision a new round of stimulus checks and unemployment benefits, hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to states and local governments, and other assistance in the eventual package.

Republicans are trying to force Democrats into tricky policy positions, and they hit the target with Sen. Todd Young’s amendment blocking stimulus checks going to illegal immigrants. --->READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to related stories:

Senate GOP led by Mitch McConnell to force votes on COVID-19 relief bill

‘Vote-a-rama’ to give GOP a chance to inflict pain on Dems

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