By John Isaacs
The Senate completed work on the budget resolution around 5:35 a.m. February 5, approving it as expected 51-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris in the chair to break the tie. There will be many tie votes over the next two years.
Interestingly, while 889 amendments – non-binding, message amendments — were submitted for consideration during the vote-a-rama, and there were 40 votes on amendments or on points of order, there was one single vote on a national security issue, passing an Inhofe (R-OK) amendment 97-3 in favor of retaining the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. That position was already endorsed by the Biden administration.
Other than that, there was not a single vote on a major national security issue such as nuclear weapons, missile defense, military spending, policies toward Iran, China, Taiwan, the Middle East, F-35s to Turkey, World Health Organization or Paris Climate Agreement.
There were a few bipartisan amendments adopted but more frequently there were issues with Democrats and Republicans roughly evenly split.
Next up, writing the coronavirus relief bill in the House and Senate which could be as large as $1.9 trillion.
