Republicans block effort to advance $10 billion COVID relief deal in Senate
CBSN
Washington — Republicans in the Senate on Tuesday blocked a measure that would provide an additional $10 billion in COVID-19 relief from moving forward, declining to throw their support behind the bipartisan deal unless Democratic leaders allowed a vote on an immigration-related amendment.
The vote in the evenly divided Senate to clear a procedural hurdle failed 47-52, leaving Democrats well shy of the 60 votes they needed in order for the deal to move forward. The failed vote to begin debate on the $10 billion COVID relief package came one day after Republicans and Democrats announced they had reached an agreement on the supplemental funding for therapeutics, research and vaccines.
The deal was the result of negotiations led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, and came in response to a request by the Biden administration for Congress to urgently provide more money to help the U.S. continue its fight against COVID-19.
