HOUSE DEMS PASS VIRUS RELIEF BILL
$2.2 trillion measure has no chance in Republican Senate
House Democrats passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill Thursday over intense GOP opposition, even as bipartisan talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continued.
The legislation, which passed 214-207, has no chance of advancing in the Republican-led Senate and is opposed by the White House. But it’s been nearly five months since the House passed the $3.4 trillion Heroes Act — which also went nowhere in the Senate. So with the House set to recess today through the election, Pelosi, D-San Francisco, acceded to demands from moderate Democrats who wanted to take new action to address the toll of the coronavirus before heading home to campaign for reelection.
“This is not just a money debate and a language debate. It’s a values debate. It’s important for people to know that what this fight is about,” Pelosi said on the House floor ahead of the vote. “The people have needs, and we have to meet them.”
Republicans railed against Pelosi for advancing a bill that has no chance of becoming law, accusing her of playing politics instead of trying to strike a bipartisan deal.
“I’m very disappointed that this is the bill the majority has chosen to bring to the floor. I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will come back to the negotiating table and work with us,” said Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee. “It’s time for our leaders to come together, rather than take a vote on this damaging, partisan bill.”
But even as the highly partisan debate was under way on the House floor, behind the scenes Pelosi was, in fact, working to try to strike a bipartisan deal with
Mnuchin. The two spent the day trading phone calls and offers, and although Pelosi said they remained far apart on some issues, the negotiations were continuing and appeared to be getting into some granular details, such as specific language on a coronavirus testing plan, and whether and at what level Republicans could agree to a refundable child tax credit sought by Democrats.
“We’re going back and forth with our paper and conversations,” Pelosi told reporters at the Capitol late Thursday. Asked the odds of reaching a deal, she replied: “I don’t know, it just depends. We’ll see.”
Pelosi and Mnuchin renewed their bipartisan talks only this week, after negotiations collapsed in early August. Congress has passed no coronavirus relief legislation into law since four bills in the spring totaling some $3 trillion, and chances of getting a new deal before the election have been looking exceedingly low.
But the fact that Pelosi and Mnuchin are now trading offers in earnest appears to suggest there’s some hope of success. Even if they do manage to clinch a deal, however, the White House would still have to sell it to Senate Republicans, who have been highly skeptical of any legislation over $1 trillion.
Mnuchin went into the talks with Pelosi with a $1.62 trillion offer, the White House confirmed Thursday — a sum the speaker still views as too low. But there are a number of areas of overlap between the legislation the House passed Thursday and Mnuchin’s offer, including small business assistance and a new round of $1,200 stimulus checks. The two sides both support enhanced unemployment aid, though Pelosi’s bill has $600 a week compared to Mnuchin’s proposal at $400.
The two sides are also circling agreement on some $75 billion for coronavirus testing and tracing, while working on specific language on how it would work. Pelosi is still holding out for more state and local aid than Mnuchin has agreed to.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has sounded skeptical about a new deal, but in an interview on Fox News Channel late Thursday he said he would evaluate any agreement the House speaker and treasury secretary come up with.
The closed-door and secretive negotiations between Pelosi and Mnuchin stood in contrast to public fingerpointing by both sides Thursday that appeared almost to forecast defeat and pre-emptively assign blame.
At the White House, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany confirmed that the administration had offered Pelosi an approximately $1.6 trillion package — much higher than many congressional Republicans would be able to support — but said Pelosi was “not interested.”
“Nancy Pelosi is not being serious. If she becomes serious then we can have a discussion,” McEnany said.
For her part, Pelosi criticized the GOP’s proposals as too stingy.
Werner and Stein write for The Washington Post.