Next Covid Relief Bill Stalled, Mitch Unclear; Pelosi, Mnuchin Want To Avert Oct. Govt. Shutdown
'Pelosi & Mnuchin want to avoid a government shutdown, McConnell's wishes unclear.' Joan McCarter, Daily Kos, 9/4/20.
It's been 112 days since the House passed the $3 trillion HEROES Act, which Sen. Mitch McConnell has refused to take up, and in 26 days the government runs out of funding with the end of the fiscal year. The status of the next round of coronavirus relief is uncertain, as is the potential for a government shutdown, even though key stakeholders have reached agreement on trying to avoid it. Those stakeholders are House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secy. Steven Mnuchin, who have reportedly agreed on a plan to avert the shutdown. They have agreed to a "clean" continuing resolution—a short-term funding bill continuing current spending levels. How long would that short-term funding go?
"There is no consensus," according to Politico's Capitol Hill sources. It would most likely run until mid-December, post-election, post-Thanksgiving recess. Once again, Pelosi and Mnuchin are making decisions, leaving McConnell out of the loop, just as they did on the previous big coronavirus response bill, the CARES Act. The problem with that, of course, is that McConnell is already maneuvering to tie a continuing resolution to further coronavirus spending. That's going to be a battle.
McConnell can't even get agreement among Republican senators on a "skinny" COVID-19 bill. The latest hiccup is Sen. Ted Cruz—who's always rooting for a government shutdown—who is trying to get Education Sec. Betsy DeVos's plan to subside private school tuition with taxpayer dollars into the bill. Fellow Republicans oppose it, "some on the merits, others for strategic reasons," or just because they hate Cruz.
>McConnell and Senate Republicans are trying to pressure Democrats by passing some kind of skinny—they call it "targeted"—stimulus bill that converts money available from the Treasury to the U.S. Postal Service from a loan to a grant; provides more small business loan funding; slashes the expired $600/week unemployment insurance boost to $300; provides some funding for schools (which Cruz is trying to poison); and includes McConnell's liability "reform," which would let employers and schools off the hook legally for exposing people to the virus.
McConnell thinks he can jam Democrats better to pass his main priority, the liability shield, if the bill is tied up with a continuing resolution. Senate Democrats have already rejected this skinny bill, so he needs some kind of lever. Mnuchin, aware of what a government shutdown can do to the economy and perhaps having at least a shred of anti-nihilism, will have to fight that one out in the White House with former Freedom Caucus chief maniac, and current Trump chief of staff, Mark Meadows. A shutdown in October would be even further disaster for Republicans. Mnuchin sees that. McConnell probably sees that. The likes of Cruz and Meadows just don't seem to give a damn, in pursuit of whatever ideological kick they're getting out of burning everything down. ~
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/9/4/1974975/-Pelosi-and-Mnuchin-want-to-avoid-a-government-shutdown-McConnell-s-wishes-unclear
- Congressional leaders in earlier times.
