Desperate Americans wait as Washington duels over Covid-19 relief bill

The bill’s vital symbolic importance to a new President sizing up a capstone for his first 100 days, likely lock-step GOP opposition and a struggle by Democratic leaders to corral a troublesome caucus behind it, foreshadow two tumultuous years in Congress.

“If we act now — decisively, quickly, and boldly — we can finally get ahead of this virus. We can finally get our economy moving again,” Biden said last week.

The clash over Covid relief also reflects the changing politics of the pandemic, with Biden warning the crisis is far from over and Republicans arguing that a sudden surge in vaccine distribution and a fall in new cases makes more huge government aid superfluous.

Senate debate on the American Recovery Plan will start for real on Friday after Johnson, who is leading a circus-like GOP bid to slow down the bill, forced Senate clerks to read the bill aloud — a process that began Thursday afternoon and was expected to be a 10-hour marathon.

For a while, Johnson was the only senator in the chamber on Thursday evening as luckless Senate clerks plowed through the monster text — reflecting the grandstanding inherent in a gambit that seemed scripted for conservative cable news shows.

By trying to highlight what he sees as massive overspending with a stalling effort, Johnson — who was most recently seen selling delusional claims that the red-hatted invaders of the US Capitol on January 6 were not Trump supporters — is focusing attention on a GOP conference apparently committed to politics of obstruction.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted Johnson’s tactics on Thursday, saying it wouldn’t do much more than give the clerks “sore throats.” But Democrats may also be relaxed that a high-profile…