The House Democrats are still at $2.2 trillion. McConnell is, who knows. One reporter from The Washington Post reports that at an event in Kentucky on Friday, he said a stimulus deal is “unlikely in the next three weeks.” Reuters reports that he also said we need another COVID-19 aid package. He could have said both things. It could be his way of trying to pacify Trump.
Here’s where we seem to be: Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin has wanted another package all along and apparently has been able to somehow evade Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who tanked previous efforts. Mnuchin could be in greater favor with the boss now because Trump was reportedly furious with Meadows for his “off-the-record” chat with reporters last weekend at Walter Reed, where he said Trump was indeed seriously ill with COVID-19. Mnuchin, the stock market, the alarm raised by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and the tanking poll numbers seem to have convinced Trump there needs to be more relief before the election. That’s the White House side.
Pelosi wants a deal because she’s a human being, and on top of that is aware of her responsibility as a government leader to try to save the nation from economic and pandemic ruin. She has already come down from the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act of May to a pared down $2.2 trillion bill, which includes relief for two critical industries—airlines and restaurants—as well as re-upping enhanced unemployment insurance payments, the $1,200-per-adult stimulus checks, and more money for schools, health care, and state and local governments. On Thursday, she ruled out any stand-alone legislation to try to bail out single industries or focus solely on businesses. “I’m always optimistic,” Pelosi said Thursday. “Maybe the president seeing the reaction to his walking away from the table is the opportunity that we have for them to come back to the table for us to get an agreement—and the sooner the better.” It’s not clear how much more the House be willing to come down, though Democrats want this to happen.
Then there’s McConnell. He also said Thursday—before the news that the White House was making a new offer—that “The speaker insists on an outrageous amount of money,” saying as well that many in his majority in the Senate think enough has been done already. “Hopefully there will be a way forward soon,” he said, which might have just been a sop to Trump. McConnell wants, above all, a 6-3 radical conservative Supreme Court. The Amy Coney Barrett nomination is his sole objective for the next three weeks and he doesn’t want critical legislation, like a must-pass coronavirus aid bill, taking up any scarce floor time to distract from it.
McConnell knows as well as the rest of us that it is pretty darned likely Trump loses this election. He’s also aware that the Senate will likely flip. Looking ahead to 2021, he wants to sow the seeds now for obstructing a Joe Biden administration. Leaving him with a totally wrecked economy, needing to immediately pass a massive stimulus bill is one way to do that. A 6-3 minoritarian rule on the Supreme Court that will strike down Biden’s initiatives (as well as President Obama’s) is another way. He seems absolutely heedless to the panic among his own vulnerable members about the need to help struggling constituents—even Texas Sen. John Cornyn has been fretting about it. Which is all to say, McConnell is probably not going to let another coronavirus relief bill onto the Senate floor before the election, no matter how much that angers Trump.
Source: http://feeds.dailykosmedia.com/~r/dailykosofficial/~3/E8-248adYAk/-Trump-wants-a-COVID-19-relief-deal-Pelosi-wants-a-deal-McConnell-wants-a-6-3-Supreme-Court