Suggesting a narrower pandemic relief package may be all that’s possible, the White House still pushed ahead with Monday’s planned rollout of the Senate Republicans’ $1 trillion effort as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi assailed the GOP “disarray” as time-wasting during the crisis, The Associated Press reported. The administration’s chief negotiators — White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — spent the weekend on Capitol Hill to put what Meadows described as “final touches” on the relief bill Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to bring forward Monday afternoon. “We’re done,” Mnuchin said as he and Meadows left Capitol Hill on Sunday after meeting with GOP staff. But looming deadlines may force them to consider other options. By Friday, millions of out-of-work Americans will lose an $600 federal unemployment benefit that is expiring and federal eviction protections for many renters are also coming to an end. With the virus death toll climbing and 4.2 million infections nationwide, the administration officials converged on the Capitol to revive the Republican package that unraveled last week. Republican senators and the White House are at odds over various items, including how to cut back the jobless benefit without fully doing away with it. Meadows said as the White House was “looking for clarity” on a “handful” of remaining issues with Republicans, but they had yet to talk to McConnell. “We have an agreement in principle,” he said.
In related news, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said members of Congress wouldn't return to their home districts without first passing new coronavirus relief legislation as provisions like the federal eviction moratorium and the $600 weekly increase to unemployment benefits end this month, Business Insider reported. "Will you stay in session until a deal is negotiated?" Margaret Brennan, moderator of "Face the Nation," asked. "We can't go home without it," the California Democrat responded. Lawmakers are currently scheduled to return to their home districts at the beginning of August for the entire month, meaning time is running out for legislators to extend or replace expiring coronavirus benefits. "We've been anxious to negotiate for two months and 10 days when we put forth our proposal," Pelosi said. Read more.
Meanwhile, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats of pushing a coronavirus relief package that focuses on "shoveling cash at the problem and shutting America down" as negotiations on the next measure continue, CBS News reported. In an interview with "Face the Nation,” Sen. Cruz said that the nation is confronting two crises simultaneously: a global pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 600,000 people worldwide and an "absolute economic catastrophe" in the U.S. But Cruz said Pelosi is "focused on neither of those." "Her objectives are shoveling cash at the problem and shutting America down," he said. "And in particular, you look at the $3 trillion bill she's trying to push, it's just shoveling money to her friends and not actually solving the problem. Our objective should be Americans want to get back to work. They want to be able to provide for their family." Read more.
