Failure to pass relief bill may sway some voters
WASHINGTON – Voters watched with anticipation for months as congressional leaders and the White House bickered over another coronavirus stimulus package, one they hoped would provide another round of $1,200 stimulus checks and a more generous weekly unemployment payment to help weather the global pandemic.
But a deal never materialized even as millions found themselves unemployed, COVID-19 case totals climbed and benefits expired. Democrats faulted Republicans. Republicans similarly said Democrats were responsible. The merry-goround of negotiations, filled with moments of hope then dismay as both sides deadlocked, played out as voters made decisions on who they would back in the election.
Here’s how the stalled stimulus package could affect the results on Election Day and where stimulus talks go from here:
How could COVID-19 relief affect the election?
The last significant relief Congress passed to help Americans weathering the pandemic was in March – eight months ago.
Since then, unemployment rates have continued to stay at levels not seen since the 2008 recession and COVID-19 cases have topped 9 million in the U.S. Benefits that allowed for boosted weekly unemployment payments have halted, a vital loan forgiveness program for small businesses expired, government workers in states across the country and those who work for airlines saw furloughs and layoffs w hile p ublic h ealth professions pleaded for more funds to help fund a vaccine.
Republicans and Democrats offered competing legislation to fill the void over the months, bills that were doomed even before they were introduced as the other side scorched key provisions.
All the while, top Democrats and White House officials worked to come to a middle ground. The months of discussions have been dizzying: Negotiations appeared dead multiple times only to be revived with optimism and more talks between Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi, D-Calif.
The pair traded letters last week blasting one another over failing to come to compromises on key remaining issues, including a coronavirus testing strategy.
Pelosi had maintained that her desire was to pass a bill before the election or during the lame-duck session, the period between the election and January when new leaders take power. Trump has repeatedly promised another bill would happen after the election.
Experts, including analysts in both parties, say the bickering is likely to hurt incumbents in both parties, including the president.
“Whenever you’re the incumbent, you get the credit and you also get the blame,” said Mac McCorkle, a professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and a Democratic consultant.
McCorkle said the back and forth over the months fit into an overarching theme that “Washington has not delivered and there hasn’t been a comprehensive plan” to deal with the pandemic. But, he added, in his state of North Carolina, the state with the sixth most COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and one of the highest unemployment rates, voters are likely more concerned with the overall issue of the handling of the pandemic.
Political scientist James Simmons of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh said most voters in the swing state of Wisconsin had committed to how they were going to vote long ago and the latest batch of bickering likely just baked in their beliefs.
“There is only a very small pool of undecided and persuadable voters,” he added, noting the differences in how Republicans and Democrats have viewed the coronavirus pandemic. “The nation and Wisconsin itself is so polarized that it’s almost as if we see events through different glasses. Two different worlds.”
What could happen after the election?
The failure to pass stimulus means millions of Americans will be left waiting for relief even as people brace for more economic pain and the death toll from the pandemic climbs higher.
“If you look at weekly unemployment claims, they’re still quite high,” said Michael Klein, a professor at the Tufts University Fletcher School, noting how the highest-ever weekly unemployment claims from 1982 hovered near 700,000 in a single week while 751,000 Americans filed for unemployment last week as high numbers of jobless claims continued.
And Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, warned of a coming crunch in the winter months as cash-strapped state and local governments run out of money to conduct more coronavirus testing.
But Pelosi insisted in a Thursday news conference, her last before the election, that even if Biden won, a deal was still possible in the lame-duck session before a new Congress is sworn in. In a Friday interview on MSNBC, she predicted Republicans would lose badly on Election Day and come around to support a larger stimulus bill, saying the legislation “depends on how much of a rehabilitation tour the Republicans want to take.”
Republican senators, however, have expressed skepticism a deal would be possible then. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a member of Republican leadership, told reporters on Oct. 21, the “lame duck is a really hard time to get much done in,” and “I don’t see why this one would be different.”