During a campaign livestream Sunday night, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) railed against a $1.8 trillion package meant to prop up the economy and deliver relief from the coronavirus pandemic.
“I do have to say that I was really stunned to read aspects of the Republican bill that has been proposed,” he told his viewers.
But an hour earlier, when that same bill came up for a key vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Sanders was nowhere to be seen. Unlike most of his colleagues, who were in Washington, D.C., Sanders was back home in Vermont, preparing to address supporters from his Burlington campaign office.
Republicans needed 60 votes on Sunday to advance the bill, which would provide $1,200 cash payments to most Americans, extend unemployment benefits, and bail out businesses, states and local governments. The procedural vote ended in a 47-47 tie. Vermont’s other U.S. senator, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), opposed it.
Of the six senators who missed the vote, five were self-quarantining because they either tested positive for the new coronavirus or had close contact with someone who had. The sixth was Sanders.
A spokesperson for the senator did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night on his absence.
Over the past two weeks, as the pandemic has ruled out campaign rallies, Sanders has held a series of live-streamed events — often featuring activists, politicians and live music. Sunday night’s event included a performance by Grandson and remarks by three prominent supporters of his presidential campaign: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
“What we’re seeing today with the Senate GOP bill is just a complete mockery of public service,” Ocasio-Cortez said during the event.
Sanders has continued holding such events even since his campaign manager announced last week that Sanders was planning to “assess” his continued presence in the race.
Sanders’ campaign has kept him out of the Capitol for much of the past year. According to GovTrack, a nonpartisan research organization, he missed more than 94 percent of roll-call votes from last July through last September and 100 percent of votes from October through December. From January of this year until last week, he missed nearly 53 percent of votes.
The legislation currently under consideration by the Senate would be the third coronavirus relief package passed by Congress. Sanders missed the vote on the first but was present for the vote on the second.
Sanders certainly made clear Sunday night how he felt about the third package.
“We need policies now which benefit the working families of this country, that benefit low-income people, that benefit the most vulnerable,” he said. “We’re not here to give handouts to large corporate interests without any strings attached.”
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Sanders shirks his job and bloviates to his dimwitted supporters while Rome burns. Is anyone actually surprised?
do your job Bernie- AS A SENATOR
Sounds like Christopher Hill has a vendetta against Paul Heintz!
My takeaway from the article is the absurd (to use a Bernie word) number of votes Bernie has missed. It was the same story 4 years ago!
Once America again rejects Bernie’s POTUS bid, maybe the people of VT will reject his next Senate reelection.
Of the six senators that did not vote, five were being quarantined. Says it all.
Feel the Burn.
Bernie made a lot of promises when has run for US Senator representing the State Of Vermont. He has shirked those responsibilities in favor of running for President over the past few years. Those of us who have been represented by Bernie as Mayor, Congressman, and now, Senator, know his promises are empty. But he needs to do one or the other-Senator or failed Presidential candidate.
While this country faces one of its largest crisis ever, Bernie stays home, and continues his 2nd failed presidential run. He has failed Vermonters and this country.
Yeah, Bernie is definitely the problem here. Not Trump. Trump’s doing a great job. He was right when he said the virus was no big deal, and he’s right again when he says it is actually a huge deal. He’s never wrong and always right. People aren’t dying all over the world; in fact, life expectancy is increasing AND everyone’s actually getting more attractive and intelligent. What a time to be alive!
By the way, any chance we’re going to get the other side of the story, i.e. the actual reasons why people voted against the bill? Oh wait… that would require impartial journalism. Not your strong suit. Just pretend your job depended on it.
So you folks bashing Bernie realize that he would have voted no and in fact the fact that he missed the vote would not have made any difference in the outcome at all. Bernie is just about the only politician that gets what needs to change to make our country better able to deal with this crisis…. but instead, we will get trump again (which completely baffles me since he has proven time and again that he is in fact a moron) or Biden, a candidate that is totally in the pocket of big business as usual but who will be a thousand times better than he lack of leadership that we currently have
Why isn’t a candidate vying for the most powerful position in the Free World on the front lines in DC during this crisis instead of hiding under his bed in Burlington?
The bigger story is Senator Sanders repeatedly being absent from the room, AKA the discussion where legislation is crafted, before the vote takes place.
The fact that Vermonters don’t really care tells you how irrelevant our Senator truly is and how apathetic the citizenry has become.
Hi all:
As journalists, we’re used to upsetting people left and right and we have pretty tough hides. We don’t expect people to laud every coverage decision we make, and we’re always open to criticism. But gutter attacks on staff members are off limits. Those comments will be pulled, as one on this thread was. And we may opt to suspend an abusive commenter’s account. Thank you to the vast majority of our commenters who add to the conversation on sevendaysvt.com!
Hmmm…So, if Sanders actually disagreed with the bill, what could he do, that might appease the above critics? Perhaps he is correct, that the bill is big for business, bad for the rest of us. Is that not a possibility?
Sanders was conspicuously absent from the vote in DC because he purposely stayed away to preserve and maintain his fragile health that is the elephant in the room with him. If he is not up to the risks and rigors of helping the Nation get through this crisis by participating in Washington with the rest of the elected officials as a part time Senator at this time then how can he possibly be up to the challenge and health risks of being President of the United States on a full time basis?
Is he there for today’s vote or is he still AWOL from his duties without good reason?
I expect a reporter of Paul Heinz’ caliber to understand the nature of a cloture vote. It is a vote to close discussion of a proposed law. The ONLY votes that count on a cloture action are YES votes, since the proponent of cloture must obtain 60 votes. When it is clear that the proponent, as in this case, does not have 60 votes, it is not uncommon for “no” votes to be absent for any number of reasons. Bernie was clearly a “no” vote and his failure to be there was of literally NO consequence. To frame this as an important vote worth getting lathered up over is to mislead your readers.
It should be noted that Bernie will return to Washington for the actual important votes on this bill.
A real leader, one actually qualified for the office of President would be in Washington, leading.
The Democrats voted no on the Republican bill because it was also a slush fund to also bail out the big corporations which is not necessary! It should only be for small businesses, people, hospitals, unemployment, the homeless and jobs. They also didn’t have a say in the negotiations.
AND Barbara Alsop HOW DO YOU KNOW BERNIE WILL RETURN- HE HAS SHOVED THIS JOB ASIDE- LIKE HE DID THE LAST TIME HE RAN. yet vermont votes him in again
Bernie has spent considerable energy raising over TWO MILLION DOLLARS – So far – for Americans who will be financially slammed as a consequence of this virus.
NOTE: The vote was one to CLOSE discussion of a proposed law. Further discussion WAS needed. Bernie did not have to be there for that vote. Was not going to vote to close the needed discussion. He knows these details – unlike the author of this article, unlike many of those leaving comments.
Time for Bernie to live up to his duties as a U.S. Senator. The campaign is dead in the water. Get behind Biden and do the country a great favor.
I am absolutely dumbfounded. He has had such a stellar record of being present for senate roll call votes for the last five years. Shocking.
I wish Heintz had compared Bernie’s missed-vote record to that of Bennet, Booker, Gillibrand, Harris, Klobuchar, and Warren during the periods they were in the race. The implication is that Bernie was comparatively negligent, but, for all I know, maybe it’s just par for the course for any Senator vying for the nomination.
“I wish Heintz had compared Bernie’s missed-vote record to that of Bennet, Booker, Gillibrand, Harris, Klobuchar, and Warren”
None of those people asked the voters of Vermont to elect them to the U.S. Senate to represent Vermont. They can respond to their own constituents. This is about our Senator, Bernie, and the fact that 47 other Senators were in Washington to vote NO on the bailout bill, but not him.
At this point his campaign is just another Bernie vanity project. He decided he should be president, so we should continue to subsidize his lifestyle while he enjoys those perks of a candidate like the private jets, the crowds to bloviate at, the syncophants. He doesn’t feel like doing the job he’s actually paid to do.
The very fact that Bernie is NOT in DC right now and involved with the discussion is what the real issue is here! Either he has zero concrete ideas to contribute or the rest of the Senate doesn’t count him in or maybe take him seriously.
Seems like a carnival Barker on the sidelines with his cheerleading ‘squad’ telling us again about his healthcare ideas and what they’re doing wrong.
Thanks for being there for Vermonters.