Unemployment assistance, eviction protections and other relief for millions of Americans struggling in an economy affected by the coronavirus crisis were at stake when White House officials began tense negotiations with top Democrats on a new package on Monday. of help.
Aid runs out on Friday for a weekly unemployment benefit of $ 600 that Democrats call a lifeline for unemployed Americans. Republicans want to cut it to $ 200 a week, saying the federal increase is too generous above state benefits and is discouraging employees from returning to work.
The Republican Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Mitch McConnell, presented a proposal worth about $ 1 trillion on Monday, amid infighting within his own party and Democrats imploring him to come to the negotiating table.
Senate Top Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York called the aid package proposed by McConnell “totally inadequate,” only one-third the size of what House Democrats have presented.
“It will not include food assistance for hungry children whose parents cannot feed them, how cruel, how cruel,” Schumer said.
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, added: “Time is running out.”
With the death toll from the virus and infections rising by 4.2 million across the country, both sides are eager to reach an agreement.
There is widespread agreement that more money is needed for virus testing, to help schools prepare to open at the end of summer vacation, and to shore up small businesses. Voters are evaluating their handling of the virus crisis ahead of the November election. Donald Trump’s Democratic challenger for the White House, Joe Biden, is ahead in many major polls, with just under 100 days before Election Day.
And the president’s position is at one of the lowest points of his term, according to a new AP-NORC poll, The Associated Press reported.
Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary, and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, worked over the weekend on the Republican proposal and agreed to meet with Pelosi and Schumer in the speaker’s office Monday night to talk. .
Republicans come to the negotiating table limping over internal strife and delay. McConnell said he wanted to “pause” the new spending after Congress approved a comprehensive $ 2.2 billion aid package in March.
But Pelosi took the opposite approach, quickly passing a $ 3 trillion effort with strong Democratic support. In the intervening months, the crisis deepened.
McConnell’s Republican proposal on Monday afternoon provides about $ 105 billion to help schools and universities reopen, new virus testing funds and business benefits, including a new round of loans under the Check Protection Program of Payment, tax exemptions and a wide and controversial shield of responsibility for claims related to Covid-19.
Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator and former candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, criticized McConnell for what she saw as a focus on protecting big business at the expense of those suffering in the midst of the crisis.
Elizabeth Warren
(@ewarren)We have a health crisis, an economic crisis and a crisis in our values that affect us with millions on the verge of losing housing and unemployment benefits. And all Mitch McConnell wants to talk about when it comes to the next aid package is how to protect giant corporations.
July 27, 2020
The Republican proposal would also provide another round of direct payments of $ 1,200 based on the same formula from the previous aid bill. People who earn $ 75,000 or less would receive the full amount, and those who earn more than $ 75,000 would receive less, depending on their income. People who earn more than $ 100,000 again would not qualify for the payment.
“Senate Republicans have offered another bold framework to help our nation,” McConnell said when the Senate opened.
But conservative Republicans quickly broke ranks in McConnell’s plan, arguing that spending was too much and priorities were misplaced. Half of Republican senators could vote against the bill, some warned, and their opposition leaves McConnell in negotiations with Pelosi without the full force of the Senate majority behind him.
“The focus of this legislation is wrong,” Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, one of the loudest opponents of the bill, told reporters on Capitol Hill. “Our priority, our goal, should be to restart the economy.”
As bipartisan talks unfold, the White House now suggests that a tighter aid package may be as much as possible with the upcoming deadlines on Friday.
The weekly unemployment benefit increase of $ 600, which was approved as part of the March aid package, officially expires on July 31, but due to the way states process unemployment payments, the cut was effectively the Saturday.
Under the Republican Party proposal, the increase in unemployment would be reduced to $ 200 a week for two months and would be phased out in a new system that guarantees no more than 70% of an employee’s previous salary. States may request an additional two months, if necessary, to make the transition.
Democrats pointed to an assessment by economist Mark Zandi, who called it a “poor policy choice.” Zandi said that if the Republican Party proposal were to become law, almost 1 million jobs would be lost by the end of the year and the unemployment rate, now above 11%, would rise more than half a percentage point.
Economists widely see signs of trouble in the economy, which showed a rebound in the spring as some states decreased orders to stay home and businesses reopened, but now it faces a new crisis with a protracted virus crisis a as states close again.
Friday is also the end of a federal moratorium on the eviction of millions of rental units that the White House said it wants to somehow extend.
At the same time, budget watchers are wary of the growing debt burden, as Washington piles up unprecedented sums in trying to contain the pandemic and the economic consequences.
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