Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed cloture for a shell bill for the eventual phase 3 coronavirus response bill Friday afternoon, setting up a possible cloture vote late Saturday or early Sunday morning, with a vote on final passage Monday. McConnell is appears to be trying to jam a bill, but thus far Democratic Leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are not folding.
In a letter to Democratic House members Friday evening, while talks continue, Pelosi wrote that the McConnell proposal "is not at all pro-worker and puts corporations ahead of working people. As written, it is a non-starter." She ads that House Committees are "hard at work on legislation that is truly visionary, fast-acting and evidence based" and are "also engaged in conversations with the Senate about provisions that could be added to improve the Senate bill."
"First and foremost," she writes, it "must address the coronavirus outbreak as the public health crisis that it is: rebuilding our health care infrastructure on a national scale and security the resources to test and treat everyone." She says it has to "tighten the safety net" and the package must "greatly increase Unemployment Insurance and Medicaid, help small businesses survive, expand paid sick and family leave and put money directly into the hands of those who need it most." None of which the Senate bill does.
Schumer told reporters that it is unlikely that a deal would be reached by midnight Friday. "They are making progress but there's so much to do I think tonight is hard. […] There are still some significant outstanding issues […] that they haven't agreed to." He added that he and Pelosi are speaking with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Friday night. The issues he said were still unresolved: "How to deal with overhauling unemployment insurance system and boost the amount of money for the jobless," and "how to structure so-called state stabilization funds to dip into as their fiscal situations worsen."
In other related news leadership is now considering allowing for voting and working at a distance.