Raphael Warnock Celebrates Kamala Harris’s First Tie-Breaking Vote: ‘This Is What Democracy Looks Like’

In this image from Senate TV, Vice President Kamala Harris sits in the chair on the Senate
Senate TV via AP
Hannah Knudsen

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) celebrated Vice President Kamala Harris’s first tie-breaking vote in the Senate, passing President Biden’s partisan $1.9 trillion coronavirus spending package, proclaiming it is “what democracy looks like.”

“Early this morning I was proud to watch VP Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote to push forward necessary aid to help get us through this pandemic,” the Democrat senator said Friday morning, acknowledging that it “never would have been possible without the people of Georgia,” as duel Democrat victories in the Peach State were necessary for Democrats to secure a technical majority in the upper chamber.

“This is what democracy looks like,” he proclaimed:

Harris cast her first tie-breaking vote in the 50-50 split Senate Friday morning, passing Biden’s $1.9 trillions coronavirus relief plan. Her vote prompted a round of applause:

The passage comes days after the meeting Biden had on Monday with ten Republican senators who attempted to negotiate another coronavirus relief deal. They specifically pitched their $618 billion coronavirus relief package, to no avail.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), one of the GOP senators involved, described the meeting as “productive” and “cordial,” but they ultimately did not strike a deal.

“Nobody expected that in a two-hour meeting,” she added.

The $1.9 trillion measure will now go to the Democrat-led House, where it is expected to pass. Notably, Biden’s measure includes $1,400 stimulus checks — $600 short of the $2,000 stimulus checks promised and demanded by other progressives. Biden’s team maintains that they are keeping their promise, as the $1,400 checks equal the promised $2,000 when combined with the $600 provided in the $2.3 trillion government spending and coronavirus relief measure former President Trump signed in December.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) warned that the Biden White House is setting a sour tone by passing a partisan relief measure first.

“We should have found something that we could have voted on bipartisan first and then gone down this lane when we hit a roadblock, and they didn’t do that,” Manchin said:

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