Jobless Benefits Extension Clears Senate Hurdle
A short-term extension of jobless benefits cleared a Senate hurdle Tuesday, advancing legislation on what figures to be a key issue in the 2014 midterm elections.
Six Republicans joined Democrats to support cloture — opening the bill up for debate — by a 60-37 vote. Three senators (Republicans Orrin Hatch of Utah and John Thune of South Dakota and Democrat Mark Begich of Alaska) were absent due to travel complications caused by severe winter weather.
The motion, sponsored by Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Republican Dean Heller of Nevada, marked a significant and somewhat surprising victory, as the bill appeared doomed only hours earlier with the needed GOP yeas uncertain. But the measure still faces another procedural hurdle this week before final passage, and some Republicans who agreed to cloture want to see cost offsets and other conditions for the roughly $6 billion, three-month extension of the program.