Frustrated progressives on relief package: 'We'll take the win'

Liberals in the House on Monday rallied behind the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that the Democratic-controlled Congress is set to send to President Biden’s desk this week, despite some frustration over changes made by the Senate to appease key centrists.

House progressives signaled that they will still back the legislation following amendments adopted by the Senate to restrict income eligibility for stimulus checks and keep weekly unemployment insurance payments at $300, while ensuring that the first $10,200 of jobless benefits aren’t subject to taxes.

Another key progressive provision in the original version of the bill that the House passed earlier this month would have raised the minimum wage to $15 per hour, but the Senate parliamentarian ruled that it didn’t comply with the budget reconciliation process that Democrats are using to circumvent a Senate GOP filibuster.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Monday that she didn’t think the changes pursued by Senate centrists were “good policy or good politics,” but minimized them as “relatively minor in the grand scheme of things.”

“Ultimately, given the makeup of the Senate, the House is always going to be more progressive than the Senate. That is actually our job, to make everything as progressive as possible in the House and then when it goes to the Senate to know that there are going to be some changes,” Jayapal told reporters in the Capitol.

“We take the win. We believe it's our work that made it as progressive as it is,” she added.

The House was initially expected to take a final vote on the massive relief package on Tuesday. But Democratic aides said that the vote could be pushed to Wednesday as the House awaits bill processing papers from the Senate.