No stimulus checks in slimmed-down GOP COVID relief package

WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans plan to vote later this week on another economic relief package for Americans dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, but the slimmed-down plan – which does not include new checks for individuals – is already a deal-breaker for Democrats, ensuring that the stalemate will continue.

The Republican proposal would restore enhanced unemployment benefits through Dec. 27 but halves the amount to $300 per week. It would also provide funding for schools and child care centers, a new round of the popular Paycheck Protection Program and liability protections for businesses.

The $500 billion plan is far less than the minimum $2.2 trillion that Democrats want to spend on a new package, and even less generous than the $1 trillion plan Republicans unveiled just weeks ago.

In July, Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, R-KY., proposed a package that included $1,200 checks to many individuals and $500 for each qualifying child. But seemingly unable to get support from his own party’s members, Mcconnell abandoned the provision for checks in the latest proposal.

The new GOP effort is designed to pressure Democrats to move ahead with ideas both parties can accept, rather than risk passing nothing at all.

The two parties have been mired in a standoff over a new bill since House Democrats approved their own $3.4 trillion package in May.

Mcconnell, who has refused to bring up the House plan in the Senate, on Tuesday accused Democratic leaders Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and Nancy Pelosi, D-calif., of holding up further economic relief for political reasons.

“Everything Speaker

Pelosi and (Senate Minority) Leader Schumer have done suggests one simple motivation: They do not want American families to see any more bipartisan aid before the polls close on President Trump’s reelection,” Mcconnell said in a statement. “They have taken Americans’ health, jobs and schools hostage for perceived partisan gain.”

But Democrats say they won’t support a piecemeal approach and have already rejected the GOP plan as “emaciated.” Schumer and Pelosi said Republicans should have been working on this legislation months ago.

“As they scramble to make up for this historic mistake, Senate Republicans appear dead-set on another bill which doesn’t come close to addressing the problems and is headed nowhere,” they said in a statement.

In addition to lacking individual payments, the new GOP plan does not include any funding for state and local governments, a priority for Democrats.

The standoff comes as political control of the Senate remains up in the air. Democratic challengers in several states are within striking distance of unseating Republican incumbents, which could flip control of the chamber from Republicans to Democrats.

Republicans in those close races – as well as some House Democrats facing formidable challengers – are particularly eager to approve a new coronavirus relief package. But other Republicans are more concerned with how much additional economic stimulus should be provided at the expense of the federal debt.

It is unclear how much support the bill has among Senate Republicans. After introducing the GOP package in July, Mcconnell never even brought it to a vote amid Republican skepticism.

But GOP lawmakers will have to show their cards Thursday when a procedural vote on the measure is held. With Democrats lined up against it, it is all but certain not to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

Mcconnell said some Republicans would like to see a more generous package.