Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are planning to move ahead with a Friday vote on a $3 trillion package to respond to the coronavirus crisis, despite complaints from progressives that the bill doesn’t go far enough.
President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans also object to the Democratic proposal, saying there hasn’t been enough time since the $2 trillion CARES Act passed to determine whether new legislation is needed or necessary.
Yet Pelosi and top House Democrats will proceed despite political attacks from the left and right, arguing that a 14.7 percent unemployment rate — which is sure to rise over coming months — justifies the need for Congress to “think big” in its response to the pandemic.
Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, have objected that one of their chief priorities — federal funding to cover payrolls for businesses — wasn’t included in the House measure.
Jayapal pushed hard for inclusion of the “Paycheck Guarantee” program in the new bill, but Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) turned it down, saying the proposal is too costly and complicated. The Jayapal plan — which is backed by more than 60 House Democrats — has a price tag of more than $600 billion for six months. Neal instead supported an extension of the “Employee Retention Tax Credit” backed by Democratic moderates, which still costs more than $200 billion.
Jayapal’s complaints, which she raised directly to Pelosi on a caucus call on Tuesday, reflect broader concerns among Democrats, some of whom feel Pelosi and her committee leaders have largely drafted the bill without rank-and-file input. Republicans and the White House also were not involved in drafting the measure.
But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday that he and Pelosi “believe the Jayapal proposal has great merit to it” and said it could be considered in future relief bills.
“This is not going to be the last word nor the final word as we go forward. And her proposal is certainly under great discussion,” Hoyer said. “We want all members to support this legislation with that provision in or out.”
Progressives privately acknowledge they are in a difficult spot to push Democratic leaders in any direction. Even the most liberal Democrats say they’re unlikely to stage an uprising against this bill because they can’t vote against vital aid for their districts, depriving themselves of key leverage that might otherwise help get their priorities into the bill.
The sprawling Democratic package, known as the Heroes Act, is expected to include a slew of liberal priorities left out of previous bills — cash for state and local governments, rent and mortgage relief, hazard pay for front-line workers and expanded mail-in voting programs.
However, Pelosi also cautioned members on a Tuesday call that some would be “disappointed” by what was left out of the bill. Pelosi said she and her committee chairs had initially assembled $4 trillion worth of policy proposals, but were forced to winnow it down during final drafting.
“Everything is big, and we can’t do everything in this bill,” Pelosi said, according to people on the call. Democrats have signaled that more legislation would follow, such as a recovery package with major infrastructure investments.
The Democratic bill represents a dramatic escalation of the party’s efforts to deal with the economic fallout from the pandemic. The shutdown of the U.S. economy has spurred unemployment levels not seen since the Great Depression, and Democrats, like Trump and Republicans, are struggling to respond.
Pelosi and her deputies hope it will pressure Senate GOP leaders into negotiations on a next package, even as McConnell has said Congress should hit “pause” until lawmakers can determine the success of its previous bills.
Democrats acknowledge that their proposal, which was unveiled Tuesday afternoon, is more of a talking point than legislation that they expect to become law.
Pelosi and other top Democrats will also push through a House rules change that will allow proxy voting and remote hearings. There had been bipartisan talks between Hoyer and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on the issue, but the two sides haven’t been able to find a compromise. Democrats now say they will move ahead with a rules change anyway.
The House Rule Committee will meet Thursday to approve the plan, which will allow lawmakers to cast votes remotely for colleagues who can’t travel to Washington amid the outbreak. The full House would then take up the rules change — which would be in effect only during this current crisis — on Friday.
