Chances for ‘lame-duck’ stimulus: slim
Past sessions haven’t led to much bipartisan work
Americans waiting for another stimulus check will probably have to keep waiting for a President Biden.
WASHINGTON – Americans waiting on stimulus checks and other kinds of COVID-19 relief may have to wait for a President Biden.
With just a few weeks left in Congress’ session and President Donald Trump preoccupied with the election aftermath, the path appears more murky than ever for a deal to be brokered during the “lame-duck session,” the period in November and December before a new Congress and president take power in January.
Congress left town before the election without a stimulus deal in hand, failing to agree after months of often contentious negotiations. Both chambers will return to Washington next week with hopes of coming to a deal, but already, it’s clear that a compromise could still be difficult.
Historically, the lame-duck session has not led to large bipartisan pieces of legislation, and leaders in both parties haven’t displayed any willingness to relent on key demands. Making matters worse, the relationship between the top two negotiators – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin – broke down before the election, and it’s still unknown whether the president will even support a deal if one is brokered.
Congress’ top priority during the short session will be a spending bill to avert a government shutdown in December. Though a stimulus deal remains a priority, Congress will have little time to resolve all its policy differences, reach an agreement and then pass it through both chambers before the House and Senate leave in December. The House is done with its year Dec. 10, and the Senate leaves Dec. 18.
In the aftermath of the elections, both sides don’t appear to have budged from their stances on what type of relief should be included for Americans.
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., a member of the Senate Republican leadership, told reporters Monday he thought a deal needed to be done “on the level we supported previously in the Senate” – referring to a roughly $500 billion package, or a quarter of what Democrats had wanted.
Democrats have countered that Republican proposals are too small. On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called Republicans’ proposals “inadequate.” Assuming Democrats lose two outstanding Senate races where Republicans hold sizable leads, Senate Democrats are likely to remain in the minority in the next session of Congress. If Democrats win both runoff elections in Georgia, they would hold 50 seats, giving Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tiebreaking vote.
Another member of Republican leadership, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., told reporters on Capitol Hill Monday that both sides said they wanted a deal, “but both sides are saying the one they want.”
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., put the onus on House Democrats to move a bill that could pass in the Senate. Stimulus “depends on Speaker Pelosi,” he told reporters Tuesday, adding he was not going to vote for a bill filled with Democratic priorities, and “I don’t think most Republicans will.”
For months, top Democratic leaders and the White House worked to come to a bipartisan compromise on another coronavirus stimulus bill. The talks were dizzying at times, with negotiations called off multiple times only to restart with promises that leaders were close to striking a deal.
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. Republicans are leery about a high-dollar bill because of the soaring national debt, while Democrats are pressing for a large package that would include funding for a host of programs, including aid to state and local governments, another round of stimulus checks and boosted unemployment benefits.
The last significant relief Congress passed to help Americans weathering the pandemic was in March – eight months ago. Since then, unemployment rates have stayed at levels not seen since the 2008 recession, and coronavirus cases have topped 10 million in the U.S. Vital programs, including boosted unemployment and a small-business loan forgiveness program, have expired.
Pelosi, who has been leading the talks on behalf of Democrats, has not spoken to Mnuchin, one of the top White House negotiators, since before the election.
The relationship between Mnuchin and Pelosi seemed to fall apart by the end of October as the two traded letters blaming the other for the impasse.
Pelosi told reporters on Friday she believed Biden winning the presidency was a key advantage in talks because that would allow leaders “to work together in a bipartisan way.”
“There’s a difference between Democrats and Republicans,” the California Democrat said. “We have a responsibility to find our common ground, stand our ground where we can’t, but make it clear to the American people what the choice is.”
If a package doesn’t come together before next year, that means coronavirus relief could be one of the first matters Biden may have to address after taking office.
Though a stimulus deal remains a priority, Congress will have little time to resolve all its policy differences ...