White House chief of staff Ron Klain paraphrased a quote from former Vice President Al Gore when commenting on Vice President Harris’s tie-breaking vote to allow the Senate to consider the COVID-19 relief bill.
“To paraphrase my former boss, @AlGore, every time she votes, we win,” Klain tweeted, sharing a video of the moment.
Harris cast the deciding vote on the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package after the split Senate voted 50-50 along party lines on whether to consider the legislation.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that the Senate will “move forward with the bill,” saying “No matter how long it takes, the Senate is going to stay in session to finish the bill this week.”
No Republican supported taking up the bill, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) labeling the legislation as “ill-suited.”
Former President Clinton said throughout his presidency that Gore had a great joke in which, “he points out every time he votes, we win.”
The Senate ended up split down the middle after Georgia elected Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in runoff elections, transferring the majority to Democrats. The even party divide is expected to force the Senate to activate Harris for tie-breaking votes frequently.
The House approved the COVID-19 relief package over the weekend, but Democrats awaited approval from the Congressional Budget Office to move the bill under special budget rules to prevent a Republican filibuster.
The Senate parliamentarian ruled last week that the provision increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour could not be included in the legislation if Democrats wanted to move it forward under the special rules.
Senate Democrats also reached a deal this week to decrease the number of people eligible for direct payments to individuals who make up to $80,000 per year and couples who make up to $160,000 per year. Previously, single people who made up to $100,000 and couples who made up to $200,000 would be qualified.