‘Nothing good happens after midnight’: DC reacts to $1.9 trillion coronavirus spending bill

The minimum wage mandate will be an issue in the Senate after Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough said its inclusion violates special rules that Democrats hope to use to pass the spending package with just 51 votes instead of 60.

After debate on the package continued into the early morning hours, the House Judiciary Committee hinted that Democrats might have “something to hide.”

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“JUST IN: House Democrats plan to vote after MIDNIGHT on President Biden’s $1.9 trillion “stimulus” plan. What do Democrats have to hide?” a tweet by the committee read.

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, a member of “the Squad,” expressed frustration that no Republicans joined Democrats in making the spending package bipartisan.

“We just passed the Covid relief bill with $15 minimum wage increase. Disappointed that zero Republicans voted to provide support to Americans struggling across our country. We now wait to see what happens to the bill in the Senate next week,” she said.

GOP Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois criticized the package and blasted its partisan nature in a Saturday statement.

“This bill should have been negotiated in a bipartisan manner, but hundreds of Republican amendments were shut down at every turn,” Davis said. “Clearly this legislation has more to do with politics than providing relief to the American people.”

“I used to tell my Sailors, nothing good happens after midnight. That remains true in Congress,” said GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas.

In hailing passage of the legislation, Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire pointed out that more than 500,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the United States since the pandemic began.

“COVID has killed more than half a million Americans. The health & economic toll of this crisis are crushing. Communities need help now. Glad the House took an important step forward. I urge Senate leaders to quickly get to work so we can deliver urgently needed relief,” she said.

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Rep. Debbie Lesko targeted the massive cost of the spending package.

“I am voting NO on Pelosi’s Partisan Payoff bill! Only 9% of this bill is about real COVID-19 relief, the rest of this $1.9 trillion package funds Pelosi’s partisan pet projects and the agenda of the radical left!”

The spending package is heading to the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will be forced to decide whether to hold a vote to override MacDonough, the chamber’s parliamentarian, or leave out the $15 minimum wage provision.