$2 trillion lifeline
CONGRESSIONAL and White House officials yesterday were closing out final details of unprecedented legislation to rush sweeping aid to businesses and workers facing ruin from the coronavirus pandemic.
After days of pressure, unusual partisanship in a crisis, and intense haggling over the fine print, negotiators appeared almost done with a nearly $2 trillion bill to respond to what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (pictured) called “the most serious threat to Americans’ health in over a century and quite likely the greatest risk to America’s jobs and prosperity that we’ve seen since the Great Depression”.
Yet even as the public health crisis deepened, President Donald Trump expressed eagerness to nudge many people back to work in coming weeks and held out a prospect, based more on hope than science, that the country could be returning to normal in less than a month.
He said he’d like to have the country “opened up and just raring to go” by Easter, April 12. But in a White House briefing later, Mr Trump said the decision “will be based on hard facts and data”.
Medical professionals say social distancing needs to be stepped up, not relaxed, to slow the spread of infections. At the White House briefing, the public health authorities said it was particularly important for people in the hard-hit New York City metropolitan area to quarantine themselves for 14 days, and for those who recently left the city to do the same.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the Government’s top infectious disease expert, said pointedly at the briefing: “No one is going to want to tone down anything when you see what is going on in a place like New York City.”
Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin and congressional leaders engaged in final negotiations after a tumultuous but productive day on Monday.
While the two sides have resolved many issues in the sweeping package, some sticking points remained.
A Senate vote appeared likely yesterday, with a House vote to follow.
“We’re trying to finalise all the documents, going through a lot of complicated issues, and we’re making a lot of progress,” Mr Mnuchin said.
Ravaged in recent days, stocks rocketed as negotiators signaled a resolution was in sight.
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