It's been 124 days since the House passed the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act, which Mitch McConnell has refused to take up, and it's 14 days until the government runs out of funding with the end of the fiscal year. Oh, and the election is in 48 days. It seems that the budget/continuing resolution is moving along, but nothing concrete has emerged other than Majority Leader Steny Hoyer saying the House wants it on the floor next week.
It still seems to be entirely walled off from further COVID-19 relief discussions, which saw a spurt of partial movement today with Trump reportedly looking for a deal, and then a tweet from him admonishing "Go for the much higher numbers, Republicans, it all comes back to the USA anyway (one way or another!)" That instruction to Republicans was immediately seized upon by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. "We are encouraged that after months of the Senate Republicans insisting on shortchanging the massive needs of the American people, President Trump is now calling on Republicans to ‘go for the much higher numbers’ in the next coronavirus relief package," they wrote.
“We look forward to hearing from the President's negotiators that they will finally meet us halfway with a bill that is equal to the massive health and economic crises gripping our nation." Tump's negotiators, or one of them anyway, told reporters "If the Speaker is saying she's willing to stay in until a deal gets done, that's also another encouraging sign." That was chief of staff and former Freedom Caucus maniac Mark Meadows. He continued, "I've been around Congress long enough to know that promises on air don't necessarily provide real fruit behind closed doors." Meadows has been pushing the already rejected "Problem Solvers" caucus hodgepodge compromise of $1.52 trillion, a plan Pelosi rejected in a conference call with her members on Tuesday. "A skinny deal is not a deal," Pelosi said on the call. "It is a Republican bill."
That seems to be the bill Trump is considering. What everybody is talking about now as the big holdup is the amount of state and local aid to include. Pelosi and Schumer want $915 billion. The Problem Solvers had $500 billion. The White House says $150 billion, though Meadows said they would go up to $300 billion. The Senate Republican Whip, John Thune, says $500 billion for state and local assistance is a "non-starter." Senate Republicans, however, might just not have that much say anymore if Trump decides that something has to be done before the election.
We're marginally closer to have something break loose on COVID-19 relief because Trump is paying attention. How long that will last, and whether it will actually put any pressure on the Senate are the big questions. As for the budget and a continuing resolution that kicks the decision-making down the road, the fight is likely to be its duration. In the back of Democrats' minds is how far Trump might go to fight election results that go against him. Having a spending bill that expires before January 21, 2021, might just be too dangerous—he can't be handed the possibility of a government shutdown after the election.