All but One Senate Republican Votes for COVID Relief Bill

Mitch McConnell's scaled-down COVID relief package was shot down in the Senate on Thursday as expected, though Politico reports that Republican leaders scored at least a symbolic win. All but one GOP senator voted in favor, with Rand Paul the lone exception. That resulted in a 52-47 vote in favor, but the measure needed 60 to advance, per the Hill. Democrats say the measure is nowhere near big enough. This would have been the fifth coronavirus relief package, and the prospects of getting one passed anytime soon look bleak. McConnell and the Democrats' leader, Chuck Schumer, exchanged public slams before the vote:

• Schumer: He said Republicans were the "enemy of the good," and he called the bill "pointless" and "emaciated." It is "laden with poison pills," Schumer added. "Provisions our colleagues know Democrats would never support to guarantee the bill’s failure. The truth of the matter is the Republicans and the Republican leader don’t want to pass a bill too many on the hard right in the Senate and outside it would be angry” with.
• McConnell: “Senators who share the Democratic leader’s toxic attitude, who think the real enemy are their political opponents, I assume will follow his lead and vote no. They can tell American families they care more about politics than helping them."

(More Senate Democrats stories.)