Washington With the coronavirus Worsening crisis in more than 40 states and the District of Columbia, President Trump and Republican leaders met Monday to describe their priorities for another federal aid package expected to be priced at least $ 1 trillion.
Mr. Trump met Monday in the Oval Office with Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to discuss the broad outlines of an upcoming legislative package, known as “phase 4” legislation. , which they intend to discuss with Republican senators on Tuesday.
“Children in school, work, and health care are the subject of the proposal that we hope to unite and present to our Republicans,” McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, told reporters.
Republicans plan to push for tax credits for personal protective equipment and to incentivize companies to bring workers back, while expanding a revised version of the improved unemployment benefits that will expire this month. The proposal also includes an injection of money into states for education to ensure that schools can safely reopen, Mnuchin said. The next package is expected to include liability protections for schools, universities, and businesses, a priority for McConnell.
“We don’t need an epidemic of lawsuits after the pandemic we’re already struggling with,” McConnell said.
While Republican leaders did not mention the possibility of a payroll tax cut, Trump said the issue is “very important” to him.
“We are working on it, and I don’t think there is too much dispute as to the level of importance,” said the president, adding that a payroll tax cut is one of the approximately 10 items being discussed for the next measure. of relief.
Doug Mills / Getty Images
Discussions between the Trump administration and Republican leaders in Congress have been ongoing for the past two weeks. In addition to meeting with Senate Republicans on Tuesday to provide them with a comprehensive briefing on the upcoming aid package, Mnuchin said administration officials will also begin reaching out to Democrats to begin negotiations.
“The focus is really on children, jobs and vaccines,” he said, adding that the goal of the Trump administration is to have a vaccine developed for emergency use by the end of the year.
Lawmakers will return to Washington this week after a two-week recess, and the next measure under consideration would be the fifth measure passed by Congress in response to the coronavirus crisis, a count that includes a bill that extends a program that grants small business loans. So far, lawmakers have approved more than $ 3 trillion in coronavirus relief through bills to provide direct payments to Americans, increase unemployment benefits, and establish the small business loan program.
“We have spent an unprecedented amount of money,” said Mnuchin. “The good news is a lot of the $ 3 trillion we still have left to put in the economy and get back to work.”
In May, the Democratic-led house past its own $ 3 trillion coronavirus relief bill, which provided federal aid to state and local governments, risk-paying for front-line workers, forgiveness of student debt, and pushed Medicaid and Medicare. However, the package failed to gain strength in the Republican-led Senate, and the White House rejected the measure as “unacceptable.”
While negotiations between congressional leaders and the Trump administration have not yet begun, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer warned in a letter to fellow Democrats on Monday that Senate Republicans “are drafting legislation that it falls short in a number of vital areas. ”
Critical points he cited include extending the enhanced unemployment benefits of $ 600 per week that were included in a previous aid bill, as well as federal assistance to state and local governments, investments in communities of color affected by the coronavirus and risk payment.
“Democrats will have to fight hard for these important provisions,” wrote Schumer, a Democrat from New York.
Mnuchin said in the Oval Office that the Trump administration is committed to passing legislation to protect the unemployed before the end of the month, and said his number one problem is crafting a “technical solution” for benefits to ensure people don’t receive more payments. stay home from what they would receive in wages.
.
