COVID quagmire
Deal up in air as Fri. gov’t shutdown looms
Another day, another unproductive round of COVID-19 stimulus talks on Capitol Hill.
Congressional leaders were once again unable to reach a deal Tuesday on how much economic relief to appropriate for pandemic-ravaged workers, businesses and state governments, even as an extended deadline for a federal government shutdown rapidly approached.
Despite the continued stalemate, some negotiators sounded optimistic that a deal will be made on both stimulus and federal spending before the government runs out of cash on Friday at midnight.
“I think there’s progress,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said as he left a meeting with the four most senior lawmakers in Congress.
The closed-door meeting, held in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), was attended by McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Chuck
Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who serves as President Trump’s point man in the on-again, off-again stimulus talks.
The unusual meeting of congressional brass prompted hope of an imminent breakthrough. But lawmakers are quickly running out of time, and COVID-19 stimulus talks have been infamously unfruitful, with Congress unable to agree on a second relief bill for nearly eight months.
Still, McConnell, who’s been skeptical of any major stimulus spending since the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March, pledged lawmakers won’t head home until there’s a deal — even if it means working through the holidays.
“There is agreement that we are not going to leave here without the omni and the COVID package,” McConnell said, using shorthand for an omnibus government spending bill that leaders on both sides of the aisle agree should be paired together with the coronavirus relief measure.
The quartet of congressional leaders and Mnuchin were expected to continue talks through the night Tuesday.
At the heart of the current gridlock is a disagreement between Democrats and Republicans on whether to include budgetary aid for cash-strapped state and local governments.
Democrats led by Pelosi want a bipartisan $908 billion stimulus blueprint to include $160 billion in bailouts for states like New York, where local leaders have warned that thousands of government workers will have to be laid off if relief doesn’t come soon.
But Republicans led by McConnell claim state aid should be left out for now so Congress can pass a slimmer bill that both sides agree on that would include an extension of federal unemployment benefits, more aid for small businesses, some relief for transit agencies, including New York City’s MTA, and cash for coronavirus vaccine distribution.
With McConnell playing hardball, some rank-and-file Democrats are urging Pelosi to drop the demand for state aid and pick it back up after President-elect Joe Biden takes office Jan. 20.
“We cannot afford to wait any longer to act. This should not be Congress’ last COVID relief bill, but it is a strong compromise that deserves support from both Republicans and Democrats,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a longtime Biden ally, said of a $748 billion plan that excludes state aid.
It was not immediately clear if Pelosi would consider the pareddown bill.
Meanwhile, Trump remains an unpredictable player in the stimulus talks in that he has to sign off on any legislation passed by Congress.
Still refusing to admit he lost the election, Trump has not given a clear signal of what bill he’d be ready to sign, though he says he wants it to include direct stimulus checks for most Americans. None of the proposals currently on the table include such payments.