Sen. Bernie Sanders' efforts to pass amendments to Democrats' social tax and spending bill came to a head Sunday when Sen. Sherrod Brown warned one of Sanders' provisions would kill the legislation.
Sanders, I-Vt., was introducing his fourth amendment of the Senate's marathon vote-a-rama, after Democrats and Republicans voted overwhelmingly against his previous three. This one would bring back the child tax credit and pay for it using tax hikes on corporations.
"This is the wealthiest nation on earth, we should not have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any country," Sanders said, touting the results of an "almost 40% reduction in childhood poverty," from the American Rescue Plan.
But Democrats, out of concern any changes could cause someone in their razor-thin majority to oppose the bill, are generally voting against all amendments that could change it. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, warned before the vote that if the Sanders amendment passed it could tank the whole effort.
"Sen. Sanders is right, the child tax credit is one of the most important things this body did," he said. "I ask my colleagues to vote no because this will bring the bill down."
"We could lose the underlying bill," Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Colo., also warned.
"If I could ask my friend from Ohio -- why would passage of this amendment, or getting 48 votes on this amendment, bring the overall bill down?" Sanders shot back after Bennett's and Brown's comments.
"We know that this is a fragile arrangement and we've got to pass it," Brown replied.
A senator could be heard on a hot mic saying, "come on, Bernie," before the vote began.
Sanders' amendment failed 99-1. His previous three amendments failed 98-1, 99-1, and 97-3.
Likely on the forefront of Democrats' minds during that vote were Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., the moderate who was the chief architect of the social spending bill, and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., who didn't commit to supporting it until Thursdsay.
Such an ambitions provision as Sanders' could have led them to vote against the legislation on final passage. And with the Senate split 50-50, that would kill the legislation that Democrats are likely to tout as their top legislative accomplishment before the midterms.
Posted by Tyler Olson
https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/senate-set-for-vote-a-rama-on-democrats-social-spending-and-tax-bill-live-updates
