Schumer pledges to 'power through' after GOP forces clerks to read all 628 pages of $1.9 trillion spending bill

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the chamber will remain in session until lawmakers pass a $1.9 trillion spending package.

Senate lawmakers will begin voting Friday afternoon on a barrage of GOP amendments to the legislation that could drag on for hours. Debate commenced at 9 a.m., following the nearly 11-hour reading of the 628-page measure. Republicans forced the Senate clerks to read the entire bill as part of a protest against the cost and scope of the bill, which they said is mostly wasteful and unrelated to the pandemic it aims to address.

Schumer, a New York Democrat, thanked the team of clerks. who read the bill beginning around 3 p.m. Thursday. They finished around 2 a.m.

Lawmakers will debate the measure for up to three hours Friday before commencing with a “vote-a-rama” on any amendment offered by a senator.

Schumer said the Senate will not adjourn until the bill is passed.

“The Senate is going to take a lot of votes, but we are going to power th... (Read more)

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