Reid Kills E-Verify Amendment to Unemployment Bill

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) used a procedural move to kill an amendment offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions that would have required unemployment compensation recipients to be verified through E-Verify.

The House overwhelmingly passed (331-to-83) H.R.3548 back in September that would extend unemployment benefits for 14 additional weeks. When the bill came to the Senate floor for debate, Sen. Sessions filed an amendment on Oct. 20 that would require all unemployment compensation recipients to be verified through E-Verify. The amendment also offered a permanent extension for E-Verify and expanded the Administration’s executive order requiring federal contractors to use E-Verify for new hires. The Sessions’ amendment would extend the executive order to also require federal contractors to verify existing employees working on the federal contract and removed the $100,000 contract minimum.

On Oct. 27, the Senate passed cloture, cutting off further amendments and setting a timeline for the bill. Sen. Reid then recommitted the bill to the Finance Committee where it was quickly released. The move burned time off the clock established by the cloture vote, essentially not leaving enough time for debate on Sessions’ amendment. A second cloture vote after the bill came out of the Finance Committee passed, 85-to-2, without the Sessions’ amendment.

The bill is still pending, but Sessions no longer has time for a debate and vote on his amendment.