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WASHINGTON (AP) – Senior Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he was largely sticking to a partisan relief and COVID-19 reduction bill that had already failed twice this fall , even as Democratic leaders and a bipartisan group of moderates offered concessions in hopes of passing pandemic aid before Congress adjourned for the year.
The Kentucky Republican made the announcement after President-elect Joe Biden called on lawmakers to pass a down payment relief bill now and more to come next year. House of Commons Speaker Nancy Pelosi has resumed discussions with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about a year-end spending program that could include COVID relief provisions. The main moderates of the Senate rallied to a reduced cadre.
It is not clear whether the wave of activity will lead to any real progress. Time is running out for the lame session of Congress and Donald Trump’s presidency, many Republicans won’t even recognize that Trump lost the election and good faith between the two parties remains scarce.
McConnell said his bill, which only modestly modifies an earlier plan blocked by Democrats, would be signed by Trump and additional legislation could be passed next year. But his initiative fell flat with Democrats and a key GOP moderate.
“If this is the same as what (McConnell) brought forward this summer, then it will be a partisan bill that will not become law,” said Senator Susan Collins of R-Maine, who joined the moderate to unveil a bipartisan $ 908 billion package. a few hours earlier. “And I want a bill that will become law.”
Democrats have refused to disclose details of their concessions to McConnell.
“President Pelosi and I sent him the proposal in a good faith effort to start, to get him to negotiate in a bipartisan fashion,” Schumer said.
McConnell’s response was to convene conversations with the Trump team and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California. During the campaign, Trump appeared keen to sign a relief bill and urged lawmakers to ‘go big’, but McConnell said Tuesday’s modest measure was all he was going to do for now. .
“We don’t have time for messaging games. We don’t have time for long negotiations, ”McConnell said. “I hope this is something that could be promulgated by the president, be done quickly, deal with things we can agree on now. He added that there would still be discussions about “an additional package of a certain size”.
McConnell’s reworked plan quickly leaked. A summary ignores key demands from Democrats and moderates, such as state and local government aid and additional unemployment benefits.
In Wilmington, Delaware, Biden called on lawmakers to approve a down payment on COVID relief, though he warned that “any package that goes into a lame session is – at best – just the beginning.
And a bipartisan group of lawmakers have proposed a difference-sharing solution to the protracted standoff over COVID-19 relief in a last-ditch effort to get overdue aid to a struggling country before Congress ends for the holidays. It was a sign that some lawmakers across the spectrum were reluctant to adjourn for the year without approving COVID aid.
The group includes Senate centrists such as Joe Manchin, DW.Va., and Collins, who hope to exert greater influence in a tightly divided Congress during the new Biden administration.
The bipartisan group’s proposal reached $ 908 billion, including $ 228 billion to expand and improve “paycheck protection” grants to businesses for a second round of relief for hard-hit businesses like restaurants. It would revive a special jobless benefit, but at a reduced level of $ 300 per week rather than the $ 600 benefit enacted in March. State and local governments would receive $ 160 billion, and there is money for vaccines as well.
Previous, larger versions of the proposal – a framework with only limited details – were rejected by prominent executives such as Pelosi, D-Calif. And McConnell. But pressure is mounting as lawmakers face the prospect of returning home for Christmas and New Years without providing help to those in need.
The bipartisan effort by lawmakers comes after a split-decision election handed the White House over to Democrats and gave Republicans inferior ballot success. At less than $ 1 trillion, it’s cheaper than a proposal put together by McConnell this summer. He subsequently abandoned that effort for a considerably cheaper measure that failed to move forward twice this fall.
“Now is not the time for political rigor,” Manchin said. “Emergency aid is needed more than ever. People need to know that we will not leave until we have accomplished something.
Pelosi and Mnuchin were discussing relief from COVID and other end-of-session points, including a $ 1.4 trillion government funding bill. Mnuchin told reporters as he arrived at a Senate Banking Committee hearing to assess past COVID rescue efforts that he and Pelosi were mostly focusing on unfinished credit bills.
“Regarding COVID relief, we recognized recent positive developments in vaccine development and the belief that significant funding for distribution efforts is essential to move us from vaccine to vaccination,” Pelosi said. thereafter.
Pelosi and Mnuchin wrestled over a relief bill for weeks before the November election, discussing legislation that could run up to $ 2 trillion. But Senate GOP conservatives resisted their efforts, and Pelosi refused to back down on key points.
The bipartisan compromise proposal is virtually devoid of details, but includes a temporary shield against COVID-related lawsuits against companies and other organizations that have reopened despite the pandemic.
It’s a priority for McConnell. But his warnings of a wave of destructive lawsuits have not been upheld, and this is sure to incite opposition from the trial lawyer lobby, which retains considerable influence with the main Democratic leadership.
Centrist lawmakers, both moderate and conservative, have presented their proposal as a temporary patch to put things on hold until next year. It contains $ 45 billion for transportation, including assistance for transit systems and Amtrak, $ 82 billion for reopening schools and universities, funding for vaccines and health care providers, and money for food stamps, rental assistance, and postage.
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