Lawmakers ramp up relief talks

Negotiators report progress after meeting of Capitol Hill quartet

WASHINGTON — Top negotiators reported at least some progress on a long-delayed COVID-19 aid package Tuesday after a rare meeting of Capitol Hill’s four most senior lawmakers. The quartet, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Republican Mitch Mcconnell, said they would reconvene Tuesday night in hopes of sealing an agreement soon.

“I think there’s progress,” reported House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-calif., as he left the session in Pelosi’s office. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin joined by phone.

The uptick in activity could be a sign that an agreement is near, though COVID-19 relief talks have been notoriously difficult and Pelosi continues to press for help for states and local governments. GOP leaders oppose the idea and say it’s the biggest sticking point from their perspective.

A top GOP negotiator said the leaders had essentially agreed to agree.

“We are still talking to each other and there is agreement that we are not going to leave here without the omni and the COVID package,” said Mcconnell, R-KY., using Capitol Hill’s shorthand for a catchall, omnibus spending bill that would be paired together with the COVID relief measure and a variety of other end-of-session items.

Mcconnell said he’ll drop a demand for provisions shielding businesses from Covid-19-related lawsuits. “We can live to fight another day on what we disagree on,” Mcconnell said Tuesday. “But we ought to go forward with what we can agree on.”

Pelosi has insisted for months that state and local aid would be in any final bill, but as time is running out, Democrats appear unwilling to hold the rest of the package hostage over the demand.

“We’re not going home until this is done,” said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.VA., on CNN Tuesday morning. “We’ve got to get people a lifeline.”

Lawmakers also worked to finalize a yearend catchall funding package that will be the basis for the last significant legislation of the Trump presidency.

There’s a hoped-for deadline of midnight Friday to deliver the completed package to President Donald Trump, which is when a partial government shutdown would arrive with the expiration of last week’s temporary funding bill.

But there’s no guarantee that the massive yearend measure will be completed in time. If the talks drag, further temporary bills could be needed.