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As the leader of the Senate majority, Mitch McConnell made a statement on Tuesday. He said a procedural vote has been scheduled for a GOP relief bill next week. Relief from the COVID-19 pandemic is necessary to help the businesses significantly impacted by the current economy. According to the Democrats, the bill does not offer enough aid to help Americans and businesses recover from the pandemic. The Senate is returning to the chamber on Monday. The first order of business is a procedural vote for the bill.
A bill drafted by the GOP was filibustered by Democrats last month. Despite talks of a better deal between Nancy Pelosi the House Speaker and Steven Mnuchin the Treasury Secretary, everything fell apart over the weekend. The belief is this is most likely permanent. In a statement made by Mitch McConnel during the presidential race, he claimed months have been wasted by Democrats blocking policies not opposed. He stated the Democrats refuse to settle for anything less than a multi-trillion-dollar deal.
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He said this deal includes demands not related to COVID-19 and called it piecemeal and not worth passing. He claims a lot of work has been done to ensure Americans do not receive anything at all. The move made by Mitch McConnel to block stimulus checks does not appear to work. The result is the debate for COVID-19 relief being taken back to a different phase. The majority of the participants appear to have given up. Their effort and time are now devoted to political positioning during the presidential race.
Compromises and negotiations for a second stimulus check seem to be at a standstill. Nancy Pelosi has not remained silent and has defended her demand for COVID relief for over $2 trillion during a teleconference. Her attendance combined with other Democrats resulted in an aggressive performance with Wolf Blitzer of CNN. He continued to question her regarding a recent offer from the White House of $1.8 trillion. Nancy Policy stated several Democratic critics do not understand her negotiations.
President Donald Trump is promoting a stimulus package during the presidential race before the election. He has said the Republicans on Capitol Hill need to go big as opposed to the limited approach currently promoted. According to opinion polls, Americans feel another COVID-19 relief bill is more important than the President’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. She is currently an Appeals Court Judge.
A lot of Republicans remain skeptical regarding the need for additional virus relief including stimulus checks for American taxpayers and special unemployment benefits. There are GOP Senators facing challenging races for re-election in favor of additional aid in 2020. The economy has rebounded better than expected. This is partially due to the $2 trillion fiscal stimulus in March through the CARES Act. There are several critical issues currently facing small businesses and Americans in need of help.
The supplemental unemployment benefits have expired and restaurants and airlines are in desperate need of help. Nancy Pelosi continues to stand by tax credits for the working poor and providing both homeowners and renters with aid. Unfortunately, the Republicans are adamantly opposed. According to Senate rules, a revote can be called by Mitch McConnell for the September legislation. Democrats filibustered the legislation as insufficient.
President Trump remains unsatisfied. This is partially because the legislation did not include the second round of direct $1,200 payments to Americans under his name. The earlier GOP bill can also be modified by Mitch McConnel. A statement was issued by Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday. She once again heaped criticism on President Trump because his main concern is direct payments for Americans. Nancy Pelosi wrote a letter to her colleagues claiming sources in the Oval Office stated President Trump has questionable reasons for having his name on a check.
She believes his reasons include the market going up and securing a win in the upcoming 2020 election. During a conference call on Tuesday, Nancy Pelosi defended her position along with her fellow Democrats stating they have more leverage than ever. Unfortunately, there is a risk no progress will be made regarding COVID-19 relief until next year. The most recent talks regarding pandemic relief started in July, fell apart in August and were revived in September.
The talks collapsed once again on Tuesday due to President Trump. They have been revived again as the weekend neared. The recent proposal of President Trump for $1.8 million resulted in another collapse on Saturday. The President’s proposal was heavily criticized by presidential GOP allies and Democrats alike. Republicans in Congress are once again offering more targeted and smaller aid. This would enable endangered members of the party to be on record as favoring aid for the pandemic.
This is a potential non-starter due to the opposition from President Trump and the Democrats. As a Democratic Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin claims all Senator Mitch McConnel needs to be satisfied is a small piece. He believes President Trump is interested in the opposite. He feels there could be a breakthrough if the pair would sit down, talk and come to an agreement. Some Democrats believe Joe Biden is in the ideal position to reclaim the White House.
The Senator said this has resulted in Nancy Pelosi being pressured to agree to a less ambitious bill providing help now as opposed to allowing the economy continues to struggle with no aid until 2021. As a response, Nancy Pelosi collected statements from numerous committee chairmen criticizing the most recent offer from the administration. Jason Furman, an economist from Harvard said the candidate winning the election will inherit a significant mess. He was one of Barack Obama’s top advisors.
He added if the offer from Steven Mnuchin were to be passed by the Senate, the result would be much better than a larger bill passing in January. Unfortunately, he admits there is a massive if in regards to the offer passing.
