Johnson's delay tactics fizzle, and Senate gets down to business of passing COVID-19 relief
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After a mammoth afternoon, evening, and night of Senate clerks being forced to read the entirety of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan—10 hours and 43 minutes—Sen. Ron Johnson got bored with his delaying tactics meant to drag out the process. Philip BJohnson's delay tactics fizzle, and Senate gets down to business of passing COVID-19 relief
After a mammoth afternoon, evening, and night of Senate clerks being forced to read the entirety of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan—10 hours and 43 minutes—Sen. Ron Johnson got bored with his delaying tactics meant to drag out the process. Philip Bump at the Washington Post did some calculations: «Given the current rate at which people are dying of covid-19, that means that about 880 Americans likely succumbed to the disease during» the reading of the bill forced by Johnson. Johnson didn't stick around to the end. He wasn't there to object when Sen. Chris Van Hollen requested that they cut what was supposed to be 20 hours of debate following the reading of the bill down to three hours. No Republican—including Johnson—was on the floor to stop it, so the agreement was made and Sen. Tammy Baldwin gaveled the Senate out. So much for Johnson's shift system of always having a Republican there to make sure they use up as much time as possible. That could mean the Senate finishes work on the bill relatively quickly, delivering hundreds of billions for state, local, and tribal economies hit hard by the pandemic. Read more