Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
High-stakes negotiations begin on $1 trillion economic rescue
WASHINGTON » Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trump administration officials launched highstakes negotiations Friday with Senate Republicans and Democrats racing to draft a $1 trillion-plus economic rescue package amid the coronavirus outbreak.
It’s the biggest effort yet from Washington to shore up households and the U.S. economy as the pandemic and its nationwide shutdown hurtles the country toward a likely recession. Mnuchin wants Congress to vote by Monday.
“We want to lay out the need for urgency and quick action,” said Eric Ueland, the White House director of legislative affairs. “The American people expect action.”
Despite the pressure to act swiftly, negotiations are certain to hit roadblocks. Democrats panned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s rescue plan, which would pump billions into direct payments to Americans, businesses and industry loans. They said it does not go far enough to help ordinary workers or shore up the overburdened healthcare system.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in her own talks with Mnuchin and she and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer vowed to press for Democratic priorities.
“We need to work together quickly and do something big and bold to help the American people,” Schumer told reporters.
Rushing medical supplies to the front lines of the crisis has been a top priority for Democrats.
Unveiled Thursday, McConnell’s rescue proposal from Republicans builds on Trump’s request for Congress to “go big.”
It proposes $1,200 direct checks to taxpayers, $300 billion for small businesses to keep idled workers on payroll and $208 billion in loans to airlines and other industries.
The 247-page McConnell CARES Act puts the leader’s imprint on opening talks with Democrats in Congress as lawmakers prepare to work through the weekend.
Mnuchin assembled one closed-door session, flanked by McConnell on one side and Schumer on the other, before the top senators exited, leaving it to their committee chairmen to hammer out details.
“I tasked these bipartisan teams to reach an agreement by the end of the day today,” McConnell said as he departed.
At the same time, caring for the expected surge of sick Americans is a priority for Congress. The McConnell proposal contains a raft of health care provisions — including permanent liability protection for the manufacturers of respirators and other desperately needed medical gear to handle the pandemic.