The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Economic rescue plan balloons past $1 trillion
Negotiators from Congress and the White House were resuming top-level talks Saturday.
WASHINGTON » Negotiators from Congress and the White House were resuming top-level talks Saturday on a ballooning $1 trillionplus economic rescue package, racing to strike a deal after President Donald Trump unleashed fury on those questioning his handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
It was an extraordinary moment in Washington: Congress undertaking the most ambitious federal effort yet to shore up households and the U.S. economy and an angry president lashing out at all comers. All while the global pandemic and the nationwide shutdown grip an anxious, isolated population bracing for a healthcare crisis and looming recession.
When one reporter asked Trump what he would tell a worried nation Friday, the president snapped, “I say that you’re a terrible reporter.”
On Capitol Hill, key congressional and White House officials converged Saturday for more talks. The sweeping aid package of paychecks for suddenly jobless Americans, money for hospitals and aid to industry is all but certain to swell far beyond the initial $1 trillion price tag. Combined with other actions by the Federal Reserve, it could be a $2 trillion pump to the economy, officials said Saturday.
The Senate was convening the rare weekend session with the aim of drafting the package Saturday, holding an initial vote Sunday and winning Senate passage on Monday.
“We need to act with urgency, we need to act with significance, we need to act with boldness,” White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland told reporters.
Despite the enormous pressure on Washington to swiftly act, the challenges are apparent. Lawmakers and administration officials labored late into the evening Friday over eye-popping sums and striking federal interventions, surpassing even the 200809 bank bailout and stimulus.
“Everybody is working very hard,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said, exiting one closed-door session and heading into another.
While key negotiators said they made progress during the daylong talks, they failed to hit an end-of-day deadline Friday to strike a deal. Talks broke around 10:30 p.m.
Mnuchin began negotiations with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and senators from both parties using McConnell’s GOP offer as a starting point.
“Our nation needs a major next step, and we need it fast,” McConnell said earlier in the day to an empty chamber, the iconic U.S. Capitol closed to visitors.
But Mnuchin also conferred privately Friday with Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the two leaders pressed for Democratic priorities. Pelosi late Friday called the GOP plan a “non-starter.”
At one point, Schumer told reporters, “We’re making good progress.” But Schumer acknowledged trying to wrap up “tonight is hard.”
The GOP plan aims to pump billions into $1,200 direct checks to Americans and billions to small businesses to pay idled workers during the global pandemic.
But Democrats say McConnell’s plan is insufficient, arguing for greater income support for workers and a “Marshall Plan” for the U.S. healthcare industry, which is preparing for an onslaught of newly sick patients.
At the White House, Trump welcomed the stimulus plan, believing it is needed to stabilize the economy.
But Trump spent much of Friday’s daily briefing in a fury, an angry president lashing out at reporters’ questions.
At times, he seemed to refuse to want to hear the reality of an increasingly dire situation. It was when one reporter noted the hard facts in the U.S. — that more than 200 are dead, more than 14,000 infected and millions scared — that he snapped back.