Congressional virus relief bill remains up in air
Negotiations resume, but sides remain far apart
WASHINGTON – Slow, grinding negotiations on a huge COVID-19 relief bill were set to resume Monday afternoon, but the path forward promises to be challenging and time is already growing short. Republicans are griping that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi won’t drop her expansive wish list even as concerns are mounting that the White House needs to be more sure-footed in the negotiations.
Both the Trump administration negotiating team and top Capitol Hill Democrats remain far apart, and talks since Saturday – when the combatants announced modest progress – have yet to lend momentum.
The White House is seeking opportunities to boost President Donald Trump, such as another round of $1,200 stimulus payments and extending the supplemental jobless benefit and partial eviction ban. Pelosi, D-California, appears intent on an agreement as well, but she’s made it clear she needs big money for state and local governments, unemployment benefits and food aid.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has played a low-profile role. But he has been a constant in negotiations in four prior COVID-19 response bills, and he is facing time pressure as an antsy Senate yearns to exit Washington. The Democraticcontrolled House has left for recess and won’t return until there is an agreement to vote on, but the GOP-held Senate is trapped in the capital.
Areas of agreement already include the $1,200 direct payment and changes to the Paycheck Protection Program to permit especially hard-hit businesses to obtain another loan under generous forgiveness terms.
But the terms and structure of the unemployment benefit remain a huge sticking point, negotiators said Sunday.
Pelosi said she’d consider reducing the $600 benefit for states with lower unemployment rates. Republicans want to cut the benefit to encourage beneficiaries to return to work and say it is bad policy since it pays many jobless people more money than they made at their previous jobs.
“But in this agreement it’s $600,” Pelosi said on ABC’s “This Week.” “Yes, they might anecdotally have examples, but the fact is, is that they’re subjecting somebody who gets $600 to scrutiny they won’t subject some of the people that are getting millions of dollars” through the loan program for small businesses that keep employees on their payrolls.
Another sticking point is that Republicans want to give more aid to schools restarting with in-school learning, even as Dr. Deborah Birx, Trump’s top coronavirus adviser, cautioned on “This Week” that schools in areas with spikes in cases should delay reopening.
The House passed a $3.5 trillion measure in May, but Republicans controlling the Senate have demanded a slower approach, saying it was necessary to take a “pause” before passing additional legislation.