Prospects dim for COVID- 19 relief package
Leaders vow not to recess without deal as McConnell balks at a trade- off to fund states and shield liability.
Congress passes a bill to fund government for another week, but Senate leader Mitch McConnell resists parts of a bipartisan group’s economic aid proposal.
WASHINGTON — Congress has passed a bill to fund the government for another week, giving lawmakers time to reach agreement on a new coronavirus relief bill.
The Senate approved the funding extension Friday by voice vote. The House had passed the bill Wednesday.
But prospects for an emerging $ 900- billion aid package from a bipartisan group of lawmakers appeared to have all but collapsed after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R- Ky.) said Republican senators wouldn’t back $ 160 billion in state and local funds as part of a trade- off for their priorities.
McConnell’s staff conveyed to negotiators Thursday that the GOP leader saw no path to agreement on a key aspect of the lawmakers’ proposal — a slimmer version of the liability shield he wants for companies and organizations facing potential COVID- 19 lawsuits — in exchange for the state and local funds that Democrats want.
The GOP leader criticized “controversial state bailouts” during a speech in the Senate as he insisted on a more targeted aid package.
The hardened stance from McConnell, who does not appear to have enough votes for a far- reaching compromise, creates a new stalemate over the $ 900- billionplus deal that a bipartisan group of lawmakers worked on for days.
McConnell’s staff indi
cated it was “unlikely” the trade- off would be acceptable, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss the COVID relief talks. A senior Democrat shared the GOP leader’s views, first reported by Politico, under anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Deadlines, real and perceived, have failed to drive Washington’s factions to a deal, even as the U. S. broke a record- high 3,000 daily COVID fatalities and hospitals are straining at capacity nationwide.
The House recessed for a few days, with leaders warning members to be prepared to return to Washington to vote on the year- end deals, while the Senate held a rare Friday session.
The breakdown over COVID aid, after days of behind- the- scenes talks by a group of lawmakers tired of inaction, comes as President Trump has insisted on a
round of $ 600 stimulus checks for Americans.
Sending payments directly to households was not included in the bipartisan deal, but has been embraced by some of the president’s f iercest critics — including Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez ( D- N. Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I- Vt.), who with Trump ally Sen. Josh Hawley ( R- Mo.) introduced an amendment to include the checks.
Sanders said the pandemic and its economic fallout are unprecedented and require Congress to “take unprecedented action.”
With passage of the short- term governmentwide funding bill Friday, the next deadline for a deal is Dec. 18, but House and Sen
ate leaders say they won’t adjourn without passing an aid measure.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D- San Francisco) said Congress would work up to or even after Christmas to get a deal. The new Congress will be sworn in Jan. 3.
“Now if we need more time then we take more time, but we have to have a bill and we cannot go home without it,” Pelosi said.
The bipartisan lawmakers held a virtual dinner meeting late Thursday to try to bridge the stalemate over COVID aid.
The $ 900- billion- plus proposal provides sweeping new funds for vaccines, small businesses, healthcare providers, schools and families suffering from the virus crisis and the economic shutdowns.
A key holdup has been the standoff over more money for the states, which Democrats and some Republicans want — versus the liability shield that is McConnell’s top priority but that most Democrats oppose.
The bipartisan group tried to marry those two provisions as a compromise.
McConnell had initially proposed a five- year liability shield from virus lawsuits, retroactive to December 2019, but the bipartisan group was eyeing a scaledback shield of six months to a year. Labor and civil rights groups oppose any shield, which they say would strip essential workers of potential legal recourse as they take risks during the pandemic.
Democratic leaders had wanted far more in state and local aid, but were accepting of the lower $ 160 billion.
But many Republicans have long viewed the state and local aid as a bailout they would have trouble supporting, despite the pleas for funds coming from governors and mayors nationwide.
Late Thursday, Sen. Richard J. Durbin ( D- Ill.) and other Democrats pitched another liability proposal to the bipartisan group, but Republicans rejected it, according to a Senate aide granted anonymity to discuss the private session.
The Trump administration is back in the middle of the negotiations with a $ 916billion plan. It would send direct payments of $ 600 to most Americans but eliminate a $ 300- per- week employment benefit favored by the bipartisan group of Senate negotiators.
The White House offer has the endorsement of the top House Republican and apparent backing from McConnell, who had previously favored a $ 519- billion GOP plan that has already failed twice. But Democrats immediately blasted the plan over the administration’s refusal to back partial restoration of bonus pandemic jobless benefits that lapsed in August.
President- elect Joe Biden is pressing for as much pandemic relief as possible, though he’s not directly involved in the talks. McConnell, like Pelosi, says Congress will not adjourn without providing the longoverdue COVID- 19 relief.
Republicans say the right people to handle f inal negotiations are the four leaders of Congress and the Trump administration, with the focus on the streamlined proposal from McConnell.
The bipartisan group — led by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, among others — was seeking to rally lawmakers behind the $ 908- billion framework that includes the $ 300- perweek pandemic jobless benefit and $ 160 billion for states and local governments.
It also includes a fourmonth extension of jobless benefits set to expire at the end of the month, $ 300 billion for “paycheck protection” subsidies for businesses, funding for vaccines and testing, and a host of smaller items such as aid to transit systems, the U. S. Postal Service and healthcare providers.