Americans’ trust in Congress has been sinking for years amidst lawmakers’ partisan bickering. But if there was ever a moment where the country thought the polarized legislative branch might unify, it would be a moment like this one: as the nation confronts the deadly coronavirus pandemic that has swept many parts of the globe and is now spreading across the U.S. and disrupting years of economic gains.
But it hasn’t been that simple.
Even as a Senate aide was diagnosed with the virus and several lawmakers have self-quarantined, Congressional leadership from both parties have so far been unable to reach an agreement on the contours of a much-needed stimulus package that will offer economic support to the millions of Americans impacted by the coronavirus. By Thursday evening, the greater Washington area had effectively begun preparations to shut down. But the Capitol, while now closed to tourists, was still filled with lawmakers unable to find consensus.
The impasse was symptomatic of the partisanship that has dominated the 116th Congress and has continued to grip the Capitol as the magnitude of the coronavirus crisis became increasingly clear. While both parties left briefings from administration officials on Thursday frustrated by a lack of clarity, they have also disagreed amongst themselves on the finer points of legislation to remedy the issue at hand.
Last week, the situation looked more promising, as both the House and Senate almost unanimously passed an $8.3 billion spending package to mitigate the effects of the virus, which President Donald Trump signed into law. The money will, among other things, fund vaccine developments and assist government agencies in efforts to stop the spread of the disease.
But the cooperation has slowed. On Wednesday, House Democrats unveiled their legislation, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The bill includes provisions for free coronavirus testing, paid emergency leave, increased funding for Medicaid and expanded food assistance programs. Pelosi said in a statement that the House planned to vote on it Thursday before breaking for a previously scheduled recess and send it to the Senate. But the fate of the bill was in limbo after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed it Thursday as an “ideological wish list.”
“Instead of focusing on immediate relief to affected individuals, families and businesses, the House democrats chose to wander into various areas of policy that are barely related at all to the issue before us,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. Pelosi’s proposal, McConnell continued, would “stand up a needless thicket of new bureaucracy.”
After Republican Senators requested to delay recess to pass the package, McConnell announced that the Senate would return to Washington on Monday to resume consideration of the bill. Senators adjourned early Thursday evening. But Pelosi and Secretary Treasury Steve Mnuchin, who President Donald Trump has deputized to craft a stimulus deal, are still hammering out the finer points of the legislation to send to the Senate.
Even after speaking with Mnuchin eight times throughout the day, Pelosi said there would be no deal on Thursday night, though she was optimistic something could be passed on Friday.
“He had some suggestions. All very reasonable. I don’t think that any of them … would prevent us from moving forward with the bill,” Pelosi told reporters of Mnuchin Thursday morning.
As they try to work past this stalemate, each side has thrown barbs at the other. Republicans echoed McConnell, arguing that Democrats were politicizing the bill and incorporating provisions like paid leave – the stickiest part of the negotiations, according to one Congressional source – while Democrats said Republicans were denying millions of Americans necessary benefits by stalling negotiations.
“[Pelosi] and [Democrats] using Coronavirus to permanently expand welfare and grow the size of the federal government is a new low,” tweeted Republican Rep. Ted Burchett of Tennessee. “The American people deserve a much better bill that actually addresses the economic impact of COVID-19 on workers and businesses.”
“We need to pass this life-saving bill now. Mitch, just pretend it’s an unqualified white man seeking a lifetime judicial appointment,” tweeted Rep. John Yarmouth, a Democratic lawmaker from McConnell’s home state of Kentucky and chair of the budget committee.
Even when lawmakers refrained from attacking each other personally, their policy differences are stark, and neither side seems inclined to budge. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has called Democrats’ plan “unworkable,” arguing that relying on the social security administration to helm sick leave benefits would be untenable and ineffective. “Not only would this take six months to start distributing checks, it would strain their ability to administer social security benefits. This will hurt the very population who is most at risk of this disease,” he said Thursday, urging Congress to delay recess to reach an agreement.
Pelosi was unmoved. “We don’t need 48 hours. We need to just make a decision to help families right now,” she said. “We have to operate not as business as usual, but in an emergency status where we have to get the job done.”
Polarization over funding fights in global health crises is not uncommon, particularly in an election year, says Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President and Director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Money allocated to combat the Zika virus in 2016, he pointed out, was held up for over six months.
The difference with this crisis, Morrison explains, is that it is both economic and health-related, reinforcing the need for a speedy agreement.
“There’s a lot of posturing, a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of blame game,” he says. “But at the end of the day the clock is going to run out and they’re going to have to pass something.”
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