US News

Weather woes delay Senate jobless aid vote

WASHINGTON — The US Senate abruptly postponed a key vote Monday on extending unemployment benefits, improving the odds the measure will survive in a Tuesday vote.

Moments before the scheduled vote, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) objected to taking the tally when at least 17 Republicans were absent because of weather-related travel delays.

It was doubtful the measure would have won enough Republican support Monday to get the 60 votes needed to pass.

“This is a purely political exercise,” Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican leader, fumed on the floor. “This ought to be postponed.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) then suddenly asked for unanimous consent to delay the vote.

Earlier, the Senate confirmed Brooklyn native Janet Yellen as chair of the Federal Reserve, making her the first woman to hold that powerful post.

Yellen, 67, vice-chairwoman of the Fed since 2010, will succeed Ben Bernanke, whose second term as chairman ends Jan. 31.

The extension of long-term unemployment benefits has a better chance Tuesday of squeaking through the Senate. But it still faces a tough fight in the GOP-run House.

Most Republicans oppose the extension because it does not cut other spending to offset the $6.4 billion in extra benefits, increasing the federal debt.

The White House and Democrats, who have made the issue part of an election-year focus on income inequality, want to work out how to pay for it later.

“We have just an urgent situation right now,” said White House chief economic adviser Gene Sperling.