Senate nearly half way done with reading 628-page COVID-19 bill

The Senate continues to listen to a reading of President Joe Biden’s $1.9T coronavirus stimulus relief bill being read in the chamber.

Who needs Amazon’s Audible when you can tune in to the Senate floor?

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., made good on his promise Thursday when he forced Senate clerks to read all 628 pages from President Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill.

Chad Pergram, Fox News’ congressional correspondent, said about 45% of the bill has been read as of about 9 p.m. ET. The reading began at about 3:30 p.m. and could last for about 10 hours.  The Senate cannot begin debate on the bill until the clerk finishes reading it out loud. Pergram reported that senators may ask periodically to dispense with the reading. But as long as Johnson is on the floor, he, or any other senator, can object.

Johnson said in an interview Wednesday that he plans on delaying the vote on the “Democratic boondoggle.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told “The Story” Wednesday that the package, which was passed by the House, is “a wildly out-of-proportion response to where the country is at the moment.”

“This $1.9 trillion bill is the same size of the bill we passed last April, right in the middle of the pandemic,” McConnell told host Martha MacCallum. “This is not the same country we had one year ago. Only 9% of this $1.9 trillion is related to health care, and less than 1% of this $1.9T bill is related to vaccines.”

Fox News’ Charles Creitz and Chad Pergram contributed to this report

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