An expansive $ 195 billion bill, aimed at strengthening the nation’s competitive advantage over China, hit a hook in the Senate Friday after a small group of Republicans objected to the swift pass and slated for next month the bipartisan legislation had voted.
New York Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer, who had urged the move to be approved before the Senate left for its weeklong Memorial Day hiatus, abruptly changed course on Friday, saying he would take the opposition from Republicans Completion will complete the measure in early June. The bill, which Mr. Schumer co-drafted with Indiana Republican Senator Todd Young, is expected to be largely passed with the support of both parties.
Legislation had moved rapidly through the Senate, fueled by growing fears among members of both parties that the United States was losing its economic and technological edge over China. The last-minute delay, however, followed nearly 24 hours of legislative disorder, beginning with an intense round of closed circuit haggling in which the Senators made substantial changes to the sprawling bill, and ended with a midnight broadcast of complaints from a small group of Conservative Senators those who complained had not had time to check the contents.
Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, along with a small group of Republicans, tarnished the legislative process with an objection late Thursday night, preventing the Democrats from moving the bill forward. Speaking from the Senate early Friday morning, he complained that the Senators had not been given enough time to review the legislation and that none of his preferred priorities – particularly one to fund a wall on the southern border – had been included be.
Other Republicans, who followed suit, argued that the bill – which would also allocate $ 52 billion to a previously created program to subsidize the semiconductor industry – was just too expensive.
“We have been fiscally irresponsible, frankly, and every opportunity we have now to bring this to the attention of the American people must be seized,” said Senator Cynthia Lummis, Republican of Wyoming. “There are concepts in this bill that I find compelling, but it’s now over $ 200 billion.”
Their grievances reflected greater dissatisfaction within their party, and Republican senators expressed anger at how quickly the measure had gone through the chamber. But the goal of the legislation – to compete with China – as well as a variety of parish items added to the bill to increase support, won over a large number of Conservatives, many of whom resented their peers’ antics keeping them had in Washington.
Republican support underscored a wider shift in the party that had followed Donald J. Trump’s leadership. More Conservatives backed federal interventions to shore up American manufacturing, citing an increasing threat from China.
