Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have given no sign yet that they’re ready to directly engage in negotiations to sort through competing pandemic relief proposals — a step that many lawmakers say will be necessary to complete a deal this month, Bloomberg News reported. The Senate GOP leader is now on board with a $916 billion proposal released on Tuesday by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, while the House speaker sees a rival $908 billion plan still being drafted by a bipartisan group of lawmakers as the best path to a deal to aid the struggling U.S. economy. Their positioning shows consensus emerging on an overall price tag. But the proposals differ on key features. Although their proxies are engaged in negotiations, the top congressional leaders haven’t yet planned a meeting to resolve the outstanding issues. The biggest holdups for months have been a McConnell quest for a liability shield for employers facing coronavirus-related lawsuits that congressional Democrats don’t want, and a push by Pelosi for a substantial amount of state and local government aid that’s anathema to many Republicans in both chambers. Pelosi continues to say that the best chances for a deal are bipartisan Senate talks where a handful of rank and file Republican are open to just a pause in liability lawsuits instead of the changes McConnell wants. The Senate leader wants to defer to the separate White House’s offer, believing only President Donald Trump will likely sway most Republicans to back a trillion dollar aid package. Pelosi and McConnell, along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, must finally resolve this lingering dispute, according to legislators on both sides of the aisle.
