It's been 136 days since the House passed the $3 trillion HEROES Act, which Sen. Mitch McConnell has refused to take up, and in two days the government runs out of funding with the end of the fiscal year. The election is in 34 days. The Senate plans to take enough time away from plotting their next act of larceny with the Supreme Court in order to pass the continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government until Dec. 11. The House sent it over last week by end of day Wednesday, hours before the deadline.
Which leaves the coronavirus stimulus. The House revealed their new $2.2 trillion baseline proposal Monday evening with the goal of passing it Wednesday—assuming that it doesn't trigger real movement from the White House on negotiations. The Democrats restart the $600/week unemployment insurance (UI) boost and the $1,200 direct payments, and include new money for airlines and restaurants as well as funding for state and local governments and schools. While the bill was moving forward, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin resumed talks, having had phone conversations both Sunday and Monday. Pelosi's office said these talks would resume Tuesday morning. The problem is that they're still about $1 trillion apart. McConnell's Republicans are far more interested in getting a Supreme Court extremist seated before the election than saving Americans from the health and economic ravages of COVID-19.
Democrats have come down significantly in their demands, a bet that a change in political fortunes means that this could help as a stop-gap to hold the nation over until next year when there is hopefully a Senate and White House that will act quickly to pass and implement massive stimulus. The $1.2 trillion they cut came from the state and local aid, going from the nearly $1 trillion in the HEROES Act to $436 billion. They include $15 billion for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), down from $25 billion, and then cut about $50 billon each from spending for hospitals, other providers, and housing rental assistance. It rejiggers the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)—the forgivable loan program for small business—taking $146 billion already appropriated, which hasn't been used, and repurposes it for other programs, including $50 billion in grants as opposed to loans. (Disclosure: Kos Media received a Paycheck Protection Program loan.)
A major new effort is a critical $120 billion for "restaurant stabilization" to help an industry that hasn't been adequately addressed by the programs—including the PPP—folding in a bipartisan bill introduced in both chambers. They also include $28.3 billion in payroll support to the airline industry to avoid mass layoffs in the next few weeks. The Democrats also nearly double their proposed education funding to $225 billion, with $182 billion for grades K-12 and $39 billion for colleges and universities.
“Democrats are making good on our promise to compromise with this updated bill, which is necessary to address the immediate health and economic crisis facing America's working families right now,” Pelosi said Monday in a letter to Democrats released with the bill. “We have been able to make critical additions and reduce the cost of the bill by shortening the time covered for now.” Pelosi has been cautiously optimistic with the resumption of negotiations with Mnuchin. Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff and former Freedom Caucus maniac, seems to have faded from the scene, which can only help.
"We've come down $1 trillion and they need to come up because we have to crush this virus," Pelosi said Monday on MSNBC. She didn't back down on the $2.2 trillion necessary in this round, and says she's told Mnuchin that. "When he's ready to come back to the table we're ready to have that conversation. But he has to come back with much more money to get the job done. So I'm hopeful. I'm optimistic," Pelosi said.
The problem is, as always, Trump and McConnell. If Trump decides he has to have this, that could always happen. Or not. But if he does, it could force McConnell's hand. You can bet there's at least half a dozen vulnerable Republicans who would probably welcome the opportunity to return home with some money for their states in hand. But it's almost certainly going to take Trump blessing it for McConnell to prioritize it. Because he's a monster.