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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) yesterday cast doubt on whether negotiators would be able to break the impasse on a fifth coronavirus package, though he said that he thinks there needs to be another bill, The Hill reported. "We do need another bill and I'm hoping that this impasse will end soon.... [But] I can't tell you yet here today whether there's going to be additional relief for health care providers," McConnell said. "I'm hoping what we're talking about today is not that last tranche that we will make, but as of the moment, today, I can't tell you with certainty we're going to reach an agreement," he said, adding that the talks had been "further complicated" by the November elections. McConnell's remarks come after negotiations between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats derailed earlier this month amid deep policy and political differences. Republicans have lined up behind aid totaling roughly $1 trillion, while the House passed a more than $3 trillion package in May. As part of the talks, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) offered to drop their price tag by $1 trillion if Republicans agreed to add $1 trillion to their top line.

A wide range of economists are expressing exasperation that Congress would leave town without first finishing work on a new coronavirus relief package they say is critical to the country’s recovery, and to millions depending on help from the government, The Hill reported. More than 28 million Americans on some form of unemployment insurance lost a crucial source of income after a $600 weekly boost to those benefits lapsed last month. Those households now have far less money to cover basic expenses, including rent and home payments they can no longer forgo after the expiration of federal bans on evictions and foreclosures. While it could take weeks to see the effects of the lapse in aid, progressive economists in particular are raising alarms about the potential toll on unemployed Americans and those who depend on them. Lawmakers are feeling little pressure to move from their positions, however. Democrats have offered to reduce the price tag on their legislation from more than $3 trillion to the neighborhood of $2 trillion, but the White House has refused to go higher than $1 trillion. If the lapse in support is having an impact, the first hard evidence may come in the August jobs report. But it won’t be released until Sept. 4. Consumer spending and income data for August won’t come out until Oct. 1. Foreclosures and evictions can also take months to process, but missed rent payments have risen steadily since the start of the pandemic, according to data from insurance company LeaseLock.

A new attempt to restart economic relief negotiations between the White House and Democrats ended just minutes after it began yesterday, with President Trump appearing to cast doubt on the whole process by announcing a deal is “not going to happen,” the Washington Post reported. Just a few days earlier, he had suggested the he was open to a new round of talks. In declaring the whole process over, Trump used a news conference to criticize Democrats’ proposals for funding election preparations and the Postal Service as part of a broader spending measure. Those were among multiple issues that divided the parties during two weeks of negotiations that initially collapsed Friday before a failed attempt to revive them Wednesday. His comments came hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke for the first time since the talks fell apart last week. But their conversation did not break the impasse, instead leading to another round of finger-pointing. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) issued a statement after Pelosi’s conversation with Mnuchin, accusing the administration of “refusing to budge.” That was followed by a statement from Mnuchin, accusing Pelosi of mischaracterizing their conversation and proclaiming that Democrats “have no interest in negotiating.” At the center of the relief negotiations was an effort to renew key parts of the $2 trillion Cares Act, which Congress passed in March. That law offered enhanced unemployment benefits to 30 million Americans, extended eviction protections, and included other provisions meant to soften the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The jobless aid and eviction protections expired at the end of July. During his news conference, Trump touted executive actions he took over the weekend, which he claimed would limit evictions, extend a new form of jobless aid and defer payroll taxes, among other things. Because these measures were done by executive action and without the approval of Congress, it’s unclear how they will work. Congress passed four bipartisan coronavirus relief bills in March and April, pumping around $3 trillion into the economy, but Democrats and many Republicans believed additional stimulus was necessary given the fragile economy. But as they launched serious negotiations last month, the parties were far apart. Democrats backed a $3.4 trillion bill the House passed in May, while Senate Republicans eventually put forward a $1 trillion bill that even some in their own ranks opposed. A substantial group of Senate Republicans do not want to any more money.

The nation’s governors raised concerns on a bipartisan basis Monday about implementing President Trump’s new executive action aimed at extending enhanced unemployment insurance, and called on Congress to act instead, the Washington Post reported. But on Capitol Hill, negotiations showed no signs of life as Democrats and Republicans traded accusations about their failure to reach a deal during two weeks of talks that collapsed on Friday. In their statement, the governors pointed to “significant administrative burdens and costs” associated with attempting to implement a new plan Trump announced over the weekend, which would attempt to provide $400 weekly emergency unemployment benefits, with states required to apply for the funds and pay a quarter of the cost. The statement was issued by National Governors Association chairman Andrew M. Cuomo, the Democratic governor of New York, and vice chairman Asa Hutchinson, the Republican governor of Arkansas. "The best way forward is for the Congress and the administration to get back to the negotiating table and come up with a workable solution,” the pair wrote. Read more. 

In related news, two days after President Donald Trump moved to implement scaled-down coronavirus relief to prod Congress into action, Republicans and Democrats remained deadlocked over a stimulus plan and gave no indication they were ready to head back into negotiations, Bloomberg News reported. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday that he’s spoken with “several Democrats,” but not House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer since their last negotiating session ended on Friday without any breakthrough. Starting off the week, the two sides exchanged blame but no new ideas for restarting talks. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the chamber’s floor accused Democrats of trying to gain “political leverage over the president of the United States” to push for a big stimulus package that he said includes non-coronavirus items. Schumer followed him, saying Democrats “remain ready to return to the table” but Republicans need to “meet us there halfway.” Read more. 

Additionally, the Labor Department said that the federal government spent nearly $250 billion on extra $600-a-week unemployment benefits from early April to the end of July as millions of workers were laid off because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported. Workers who permanently lost their jobs, were furloughed or had their hours cut were able to tap $600 in federal unemployment benefits on top of the amount they qualified for from the state, under a relief law Congress passed and President Trump signed in March. The benefits expired on July 31. Trump on Saturday signed an executive order that would replace the larger payments with $300 a week in enhanced unemployment benefits, and called on states to provide another $100 a week. The White House remained deadlocked yesterday over a broader pandemic relief deal with Democratic lawmakers, who said the president’s moves over the weekend were an unconstitutional breach of congressional spending powers. Individuals tapping regular state programs, the largest source of benefits, at the beginning of August saw weekly payments decline to near the $332 average weekly payment made under those programs in the past year. Self-employed and gig workers — who don’t usually qualify for unemployment assistance — saw a steeper decline in payments. Read more. (Subscription required.)