(Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Sorry about that whole “pandemic” thing, America, but Rand Paul’s got a point to make here!
After the House passed a bipartisan coronavirus relief bill last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told Republicans yesterday “to gag and vote for it,” postponing the regularly scheduled rancorous posturing and point-scoring in light of the hundreds of thousands of people who just found themselves without a paycheck. With unanimous consent of all 100 senators, the bill could be fast-tracked for immediate approval.
“We’re able to rise above our normal partisanship and many times our normal positions because these are not ordinary times. This is not an ordinary time,” McConnell said, according to NBC.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin underlined the point yesterday at luncheon with Republican senators, warning that, absent immediate corrective action, we might be looking at 20 percent unemployment. Don’t worry, though, they dispensed with their regular buffet line, so your favorite septuagenarian obstructionists should be totally fine. Whew!
But everywhere Rand Paul goes, there he is. The senator is holding up free coronavirus testing, expansion of Medicaid and food stamps, and unemployment relief to offer an amendment to end the war in Afghanistan. Which is an important issue, and also, dude, you’re really doing this NOW?
Oh, but he is! Senator Paul has a point to make, so he’s insisting on an amendment to the House package — undoubtedly the first of many relief measures — which will give him time for useless floor debate on ending the war in Afghanistan. And without unanimity, the bill has to go through regular process.
This amendment has absolutely zero chance of passing, but by God old Rand is going to stage this interpretive dance in Congress if it’s the last thing he does. Just the way he did when he held up the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund last June to make a point about balanced budgets. Because Rand Paul is a man of principle!
Which will no doubt be a great comfort to the millions of Americans staring down weeks trapped in the house wondering if their jobs will be there when this nightmare is finally over with. Never change, Rand!
Senate coronavirus vote delayed after Rand Paul pushes doomed amendment [NBC]
Elizabeth Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.