Few signs of progress toward a coronavirus relief deal emerged Thursday as Congress inches closer to letting millions of Americans fall deeper into financial peril.
They will have to wait longer for Washington to figure out how to help them. After votes Thursday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told representatives the chamber would adjourn until at least Tuesday pending an agreement on pandemic aid and full-year government funding.
On Thursday, Democrats again endorsed the bipartisan talks. Those discussions, however, still have not yielded legislation as lawmakers finalize provisions related to state and local government relief and GOP-backed legal immunity for businesses. NBC News reported that the group agreed Thursday afternoon on how to distribute $160 billion in state and local funds, but has not resolved questions about legal immunity.
Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., described the bipartisan negotiations as “the only real game in town” to craft a bill that could get through a divided Congress. He contended McConnell has tried to trip up those talks in favor of a plan that includes only policies Republicans support.
Pelosi, flanked Thursday by a poster highlighting that the roughly 290,000 American fatalities from Covid-19 have nearly surpassed U.S. combat deaths in World War II, backed the developing bipartisan relief plan as an “emergency” bridge to the Biden administration and vaccine deployment.
“We cannot leave here without having a piece of legislation,” both to send pandemic aid and fund the government, she told reporters. The House has passed a one-week federal spending extension to avoid a shutdown through Dec. 18, and the Senate is set to approve it as soon as Thursday.
However, it would send Americans a one-time $600 payment and offer no federal unemployment supplement. Democrats have supported both a $1,200 stimulus check and an enhanced jobless benefit.
The developing bipartisan plan would add $300 per week to jobless benefits for four months. But it would not include a direct payment.
The lack of an immediate cash injection has led many progressives and some Republicans in Congress to criticize the proposal as inadequate to address the needs of struggling Americans. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a bill Thursday to provide another round of $1,200 stimulus payments.
Reference: CNBC
Thai
Eng