| The Covid-19 relief bill is in its final stretch before Senate passage; vaccine tensions are brewing between Italy and Australia. Tonight's Sentences was written by Gabby Birenbaum. | | | | | | | What to expect with the relief bill in the Senate | | | | | Samuel Corum/Getty Images | | - The Senate begins debate today over Democrats' $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill in a drawn-out process known as a "vote-a-rama," in which Republicans will introduce dozens of amendments that will test the Democratic caucus's ability to stick together. [CBS News / Grace Segers]
- The hours-long process will likely not culminate until sometime Saturday, at which a point will be taken on the package. After that, the bill will be sent back to the House, because the version the House originally passed was slightly different — for example, it included a $15 minimum wage provision that the Senate parliamentarian struck down. [Politico / Caitlin Emma, Marianne Levine, and Burgess Everett]
- Republicans have already taken steps to make the bill's passage as excruciating as possible. At Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI)'s request, the Senate clerks spent over 10 hours reading all 628 pages of the bill from yesterday afternoon into the early morning today, a step that is usually skipped to save time. [Vox / Li Zhou]
- Johnson said Republicans have 100 amendments they are planning to introduce. If Republicans stick together, the defection of just one Democrat would allow one of their amendments to be included in the bill. [CNN / Kristin Wilson]
- No Senate Republicans are expected to vote for the bill, objecting to the $350 billion for state and local governments, an increase of the child tax credit, greater unemployment benefits, and apparent outrage at Biden's lack of Republican inclusion in working on the bill, though their opposition to the price tag practically guaranteed there was little meaningful middle ground to be found. [USA Today / Savannah Behrmann]
- Democrats also made some last-minute changes to the bill before debate began on Friday. A new amendment from Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) would lower unemployment payments from $400 to $300 weekly, but would make the first $10,200 in unemployment benefits non-taxable and would extend the provision through September instead of August. [Politico / Caitlin Emma, Marianne Levine, and Burgess Everett]
- The vote-a-rama does force senators to clarify their stances on potentially politically fraught issues. Multiple Democrats ended up voting against an amendment to allow the $15 minimum wage provision in the bill. [Twitter / Andrew Prokop]
- The relief package vote comes at a time when millions of Americans are still struggling. But February's employment report showed positive signs for the economy — 379,000 jobs were added last month, mostly in the leisure and hospitality sectors. But unemployment still stands at 6.2 percent and the US still has 9.5 million fewer jobs today than at this time last year. [NYT / Patricia Cohen]
| | | Italy blocks vaccine shipments to Australia | | - Italy blocked the shipment of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia, the first usage of the power of any EU member country to stop exports for vaccines to countries not in the bloc. [CNN / Nicola Ruotolo, James Frater, and Zamira Rahim]
- The move illustrates the EU's increasing frustration with their slow vaccine rollouts and ongoing global power struggles over vaccines. Cases in Italy are on the rise, whereas Australia's daily case counts are incredibly low. [NYT / Benjamin Mueller and Matina Stevis-Gridneff]
- Italy's move has drawn the attention of Germany, whose health minister expressed concern over the action and urged members not to prioritize short-term benefits over potential disruptions to the vaccine supply chain. [Guardian / Daniel Boffey]
- The EU and AstraZeneca have been engaged in a very public battle over manufacturing, after AstraZeneca delivered fewer doses to the bloc than initially expected. The episode brings up thorny debates over who controls the flow of vaccines, considering it is produced at European plants. [Euronews]
- Australia has appealed Italy's decision, asking the European Commission to review the decision. Prime Minister Scott Morrison did say he understood Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi's reasoning, given Italy's relatively high Covid-19 death rate. [Al Jazeera]
| | | | | | | | | [Washington Post / Katie Shepherd and John Hudson] - As Brazil's Covid-19 death toll hit 260,000 — the second-highest in the world, behind the United States — President Jair Bolsonaro told Brazilians to stop "whining" about the coronavirus, asking them, "How long are you going to keep on crying?" [Guardian / Tom Phillips]
- The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a warning against the Johnson & Johnson vaccine over its "moral permissibility" for using cells cloned from the tissue of aborted fetuses from the 1970s and '80s in its development process, urging Catholics to receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine if given the choice. [Slate / Molly Olmstead]
- A debate exploded on Twitter over the depiction of Lola Bunny in the upcoming Space Jam 2, who has a more modest look in the sequel. [The Cut / Amanda Arnold]
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