Senate seeks to pass more COVID-19 stimulus for small business by 'unanimous consent or voice vote'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says chamber leaders are looking to pass an additional $250 billion in stimulus funding for small businesses by "unanimous consent or voice vote" on Thursday so each member would not have to travel to Washington to vote in-person due to coronavirus.

The Senate passed the largest stimulus bill in U.S. history known as the CARES Act last month. The House passed the $2.2. trillion bill by a voice vote, which didn't record each member's vote.

In the past, McConnell ruled out the idea of changing the Senate rules to allow each senator to vote remotely. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said the House is not prepared for remote voting at this time.

According to the Senate rules, "a senator may request unanimous consent on the floor to set aside a specified rule of procedure so as to expedite proceedings. If no Senator objects, the Senate permits the action, but if any one senator objects, the request is rejected." For a voice vote, "the names or numbers of senators voting on each side are not recorded."

McConnell said that Senate Republicans want any "potential further action" on coronavirus to reflect "the actual needs of our nation, not plucked off preexisting partisan wish lists."

The Kentucky Republican was referring to provisions of the CARES Act not directly related to the economic impact of COVID-19.

“Even as the CARES Act continues to come online, one such need is already clear: The small-business Paycheck Protection Program needs more funding. This bold legislation from Chairman Marco Rubio, Chairman Susan Collins, Senator Ben Cardin, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen is providing emergency liquidity to Main Street businesses nationwide to keep paychecks coming," McConnell said Tuesday.

"In just a few days, this program has become overwhelmingly popular. Thanks to the hard work of small businesses and lenders, billions of dollars have already landed and tens of billions more are already in the pipeline. Jobs are literally being saved as we speak," he added.

McConnell called on Congress to provide "more funding or this crucial program may run dry." 

"Congress needs to act with speed and total focus to provide more money for this uncontroversial bipartisan program. I will work with Secretary Mnuchin and Leader Schumer and hope to approve further funding for the Paycheck Protection Program by unanimous consent or voice vote during the next scheduled Senate session on Thursday," he said.