The Senate reached a critical pressure point on Monday as Democrats tanked another procedural vote while they negotiate a nearly $2 trillion coronavirus economic rescue package.
The vote’s failure — which comes after four days of frenetic talks — further frustrated Senate Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has aggressively pushed for a deal by Monday. Every Democrat voted against moving forward on Monday’s procedural vote except Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.).
Despite the hurdles, Senate Democrats and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin still insisted Monday afternoon that they are nearing a deal on a package that would help blunt the economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis. Shortly after the vote, Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met again for the third time.
“Going well,” Mnuchin told reporters as he left Schumer’s office shortly after 4 p.m., saying he hoped for a deal Monday night.
With tensions running high and tempers flaring in the Capitol, McConnell scolded Senate Democrats for blocking the bill, which he said has delayed negotiations to the point where a final vote could be delayed until Friday or Saturday.
“While people are losing their jobs, losing their income, and shutting down the economy, which we have had to do to deal with this public health crisis, they are fiddling around with Senate procedure that could, if one senator objected, take us all the way to the end of the week to solve this problem,” McConnell said. “I’m beginning to think our Democratic colleagues don’t understand the procedures of the Senate.”
Minutes after the Senate’s failed vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced from the other side of the Capitol that House Democrats will unveil their own version on Monday. Text of the bill, which is currently 1,443 pages, is expected to be filed within hours.
Pelosi said the Democrats’ package would focus on immediately helping people in need, through direct payments — like expanded unemployment insurance, the child tax credit, and earned income tax credit — and other measures, such as reducing student debt burdens and expanded food stability programs.
“We must be bold and forward looking in our thinking,” Pelosi said, describing the outbreak as “one of the most serious health and economic emergencies out nation has ever faced.”
Asked about a House floor schedule, Pelosi said she “hoped” that the House would vote on a package this week: “That is a hope yes, but we’ll see what the Senate does.”
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are rushing to finish negotiations with the Trump administration amid mounting pressure from Republicans and within their own party, with millions of desperate Americans eager for relief. Jobs are being shed by the day, and one forecaster predicted a GDP drop of 24 percent in second quarter — far worse than the Great Recession.
Schumer said on the Senate floor Monday afternoon that he was “hopeful, even confident” that they could reach an agreement by day’s end.
But Republicans argued Democrats are stalling the proposal and are adding extraneous provisions onto the package that have nothing to do with the coronavirus outbreak, like fuel emission standards for airlines and more wind and solar tax credits.
“Democrats won’t let us fund hospitals or save small businesses until they get to dust off the Green New Deal,” a visibly irritated McConnell said. “This has got to stop. And today is the day it has to stop. The country is out of time.”
As the negotiations dragged into another day, tensions on the Senate floor soared as lawmakers berated each other for the delays.
“I cannot believe objections to proceeding to this package,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who worked on its small business provisions. “Is this package perfect? No but that’s why negotiations are going on … Time is not on our side.”
“The country is burning and your side is playing political games,” added Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.).
The slew of meetings and conversations comes after a vote to move forward on the GOP’s package failed Sunday evening on the Senate floor, with Democrats denying Republicans the 60 votes needed. Democrats said the Republican proposal does not do enough to prioritize workers over corporations.
One of the outstanding issues for Democrats is the $500 billion “Exchange Stabilization Fund,” which is designed to assist industries that have been hit hard by the coronavirus, including $58 billion for airlines and cargo. The GOP proposal would mostly prevent companies that accept the money from buying back their own stock.
But that restriction could be waived by the Treasury Secretary — a source of significant contention for Democrats, who object to provisions that allow Mnuchin to withhold the names of the companies that receive federal money — as well as the amount — for up to six months at his discretion.
Democrats are also arguing that the package doesn’t do enough to prevent layoffs and that a two-year time frame on executive compensation limits is not enough.
In addition, Democrats are pushing for unemployment provisions to last four months instead of three and include independent contractors, hundreds of billions for both hospitals and a “State Stabilization Fund” to assist states with loss of revenue and expanded provisions for more worker protections.
While Republicans are accusing Democrats of adding unrelated provisions, Democrats are accusing Republicans of doing the same. A senior Democratic aide said Republicans included a provision for extending an abstinence education program that was set to expire in May as well as a provision that prevents nonprofits from receiving Small Business Administration funding.
Republicans argue that the proposal they put forward is bipartisan, and already includes significant concessions on unemployment insurance and $75 billion for hospitals. In addition to those provisions, the proposal allocates $350 billion for small businesses, and would cover an estimated 58 million U.S. workers and more than 30 million small businesses, according to Senate Small Business Committee Chairman Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
The GOP package also includes $1,200 in direct cash payments to individuals, including to Americans with no taxable income. The payments would be phased out for individuals who earn more than $75,000.
The negotiations come as the coronavirus has hit close to home for the Senate, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) becoming the first senator to test positive. In addition to Paul, Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) are all under self-quarantine. Meanwhile, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Monday that her husband has contracted the virus.
The House, which is on recess, meanwhile, is largely waiting on Senate before calling back members to vote on a package.
House Democrats will present their own plan, but it’s unclear whether that bill will come up for a vote. The House is expected to take up the Senate version — whenever there is a deal — by unanimous consent, which would not require lawmakers to return to Washington, according to people familiar with the conversations. But if there is even a single objection, lawmakers will have to come back.
A draft of the House Democratic bill obtained by POLITICO goes far beyond Senate negotiators in some areas, including direct cash payments to individuals and families. The House bill, which has a tentative $2.5 trillion price tag, would provide one time payments, with adults under specific income thresholds receiving $1,500 of immediate assistance per individual and up to $7,500 for a family of five. A previous version of the bill included monthly — not one time — until the coronavirus crisis is officially over.
The bill would also expand popular tax credits for children and earned income that Democrats have been pushing for in the Senate talks. The House draft also covers a breadth of other areas including a drastic expansion of vote-by-mail programs, emergency rental assistance, low-income broadband programs, forgiveness of some student debt, and a massive investment in a permanent emergency fund for public health crises, according to a draft summary obtained by POLITICO. The final version could still change.
Some of the ideas would be major sticking points with Republicans: The bill, for example, would invest money “to eliminate high-polluting aircraft” and “research into sustainable aviation fuels.”
It would also require certain conditions for corporate aid, including limits on executive bonuses and compensation, “golden parachutes,” stock buybacks or dividend payments and $15-an-hour minimum wage.
Democrats would also create a COVID-19 Stimulus Accountability and Transparency Board, a nod to the 2008 bailouts that progressives saw as lacking safeguards. And it would extend the status or work authorization for so-called Dreamers, as well as people in the Temporary Program Status program.
The White House has called for final passage of the Senate package by Monday, but it’s unclear if that goal remains feasible.
Andrew Desiderio and Heather Caygle contributed to this story.
