GOP senator to force 600-page Covid bill to be read out loud before vote

Wisconsin senator Ron Johnson has said that he will force the Senate clerks to read aloud the entire 600-page coronavirus relief bill before debate begins on the legislation.

In a tweet on Wednesday evening, Mr Johnson, a Republican, said he will object to the waiving of the reading for the $1.9 trillion (£1.3 trillion) bill, which will force the Senate clerks to read the whole legislation out loud.

“​Since more than 90 per cent of this ‘Covid relief​’​ bill is not even related to Covid, I think we need a full reading of the bill​,” Mr Johnson wrote on Twitter.

“Yes, it could take 10 hours but the American people deserve to know what’s in it,​” he added, seemingly pre-empting any criticism.

The 10 hours it will take for the Senate clerks to read the bill out loud will be in addition to the 20 hours already scheduled for debate around the legislation, further delaying a vote on it.

A version of the bill was passed in the House on Saturday morning by a 219-212 margin, and debate in the Senate was scheduled to begin as early as Thursday before the GOP senator’s intervention.

Mr Johnson added that after the clerks have read the bill out loud, he will “offer amendments. Many amendments. We need to highlight the abuse. This is not a Covid relief bill. It’s a boondoggle for Democrats.”

Although a Morning Consult-Politico poll revealed last week that 76 per cent of voters and 60 percent of Republicans support the relief package, Democrats have struggled to gain support for it in the Senate.

Republicans attacked two parts of the deal passed in the House, the $141 (£101m) in funding for the transit system in San Francisco and $1.5m (£1.02m) in aid for the Seaway International Bridge.

Both of those projects have been dropped from the upcoming Senate bill, and in order to convince more Republicans to approve the relief plan, President Joe Biden has also agreed to limit the number of people who receive stimulus cheques.

Under the limit, people earning over $80,000 (£57,210) a year will not receive a stimulus cheque worth $1,400 (£1,001), which means 8 million fewer people than under the House deal will get the payment.

The limit has been criticised by progressive Democratic politicians, with New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez describing the decision as an “own-goal”, as it means the Biden administration’s deal will provide fewer cheques than any of the bills passed during Donald Trump’s presidency.

Mr Biden has highlighted his desire to get the Senate relief bill passed quickly, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki saying on Wednesday that the president will not attend a joint-session of Congress until it is agreed.

The extra delay caused by Mr Johnson means that Mr Biden and his administration will need to wait at least a day longer to begin attempting to pass parts of its Build Back Better agenda in the Senate.