Bernie Sanders said he would vote against the bipartisan $908 billion stimulus bill 'unless it is significantly improved'

GettyImages bernie sanders — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) arrives at the Capitol on October 20, 2020.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders said he "can't support" the $908 billion bipartisan stimulus deal "unless it is significantly improved."
House Democrats recently came out in favor of the coronavirus relief package to end the lame-duck session and get federal aid out to Americans quickly. The plan, however, does not include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks.
"While the COVID crisis is the worst it has ever been, Manchin-Romney not only provides no direct payments, it does nothing to address the healthcare crisis and provides totally inadequate assistance for the most vulnerable," Sanders wrote in a follow-up tweet. "That's wrong morally and it's wrong economically."
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Sen. Bernie Sanders said Friday that he "can't support" the $908 billion bipartisan stimulus deal "unless it is significantly improved."

The senator from Vermont slammed the bipartisan bill in a chain of tweets Friday night, writing that the proposed bill "provides 100% legal immunity to corporations whose irresponsibility led to the deaths of hundreds of workers."

"It would continue to provide a get-out-of-jail free card to companies that put the lives of their workers at risk," he wrote, adding that at least $1,200 stimulus checks were necessary "to pay the rent and feed their families."

The bipartisan bill was led by GOP Sens. Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, as well as Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia. House Democrats recently came out in favor of the coronavirus relief package to end the lame-duck session and get federal aid out to Americans quickly.

The plan, however, does not include another round of $1,200 stimulus checks.

"While the COVID crisis is the worst it has ever been, Manchin-Romney not only provides no direct payments, it does nothing to address the healthcare crisis and provides totally inadequate assistance for the most vulnerable," Sanders wrote in a follow-up tweet. "That's wrong morally and it's wrong economically."

Though Sanders asserted that he would vote against the bill, he emphasized the urgency of distributing aid to Americans who took the economic brunt of the pandemic, writing that "we must make sure every working class American receives at least $1,200 and that we don't give legal immunity to corporations who break the law."

"I will not support Manchin-Romney in its current form," Sanders wrote. "We must fight together to improve it."

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