Joe Biden has to be wary of Senate Republicans when it comes to Covid measures

The fact that the US almost ran into a government shutdown shows the power that individuals can wield in an evenly-split Senate, writes Chris Stevenson

Night falls at the Capitol in Washington (AP)

Yet again, the US Congress has avoided a possible government shutdown at the last minute with both the House of Representatives and Senate voting through a stopgap bill to extend funding through to the middle of February.

It is not the first time in recent years that political stalemate has pushed Congress to the brink of a shutdown (two occurred during the term of former president Donald Trump) – but this particular close call was linked to Covid-19 measures.

With the funding bill passing the house, a small group of Republican senators, Mike Lee, of Utah, Ted Cruz, of Texas, and Roger Marshall, of Kansas, sought to delay the bill if funding to enforce Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates was included. The amendment failed 50-48 in a partisan vote and then the funding bill passed 69-28, with 19 Republicans supporting it.

The move shows the power that individuals can wield in the Senate given that it is essentially split 50-50 – particularly when bills are moving through Congress at the last minute.

Biden’s vaccine mandates are facing legal challenges. Top of the list is a mandate that all businesses with 100 or more workers require employees to be vaccinated. If they are not, they would need to be tested weekly and wear masks while working, with exceptions for those who work alone or mostly outdoors. The rule is set to go into effect on 4 January, but a federal court of appeals has put it on hold. Biden has called on businesses to proceed with the measures on a voluntary basis in the wake of the appearance of the omicron variant – and a survey of 300 businesses conducted earlier in the month suggested that 60 per cent of companies are going ahead with plans as if the 4 January deadline was in place. A mandate for healthcare workers to get the vaccine is also on hold until the legal cases have been ruled upon.

Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, was one of those who does not understand the action from some Republicans over the vaccine mandates. “I do not understand why after all families have been through, after all, we have lost and all the hard work we’ve done to rebuild – would anyone want to throw that in jeopardy and throw away one of the strongest tools we have to get people vaccinated,” she told CNN. “It is senseless. It’s reckless.”

One of the GOP senators, Lee, suggested that other bills could be used to raise the vaccine issue again, with the next funding deadline coming up on 18 February. “This isn’t going away,” he said. It’s going to come back again every time we get the opportunity.”

Biden’s White House may have to get used to such gimmicks.