This post was originally published on this site
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday lashed out at Democratic leaders, saying they were moving the goalposts on reaching a another fiscal stimulus deal to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“There is a huge list of helpful policies that both sides agree on”, McConnell said. “This need not be rocket science. But we can’t do a thing unless the Democrats decide they actually want to make a law.”
McConnell’s statement on the Senate floor came after Democrats rejected two Republican offers on a deal in the past 24 hours.
On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Munchin offered a $916 billion package that would include $600 checks to most Americans but eliminate unemployment benefits. And McConnell offered to drop his pet provision of a shield for businesses against lawsuits for COVID-19 negligence if Democrats would drop their demand for aid to state and local governments.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer rejected these proposals. They said they want to build instead on a separate $908 billion bipartisan plan and accused McConnell of trying to undermine it.
In response to McConnell later on the Senate floor, Schumer said the Republican proposal was “an encouraging sign that the Republican leadership is moving in the right direction by endorsing a bill” of a similar size to the bipartisan group of moderates.
Analysts think the give-and-take among lawmakers is actually a good sign and that a stimulus package looks likely to become reality before the end of the year.
Lawmakers plan to pass a one-week spending bill this week to fund government operations that would give themselves more time to finish work on a more comprehensive deal. The House is expected to vote on the bill later Wednesday.
The final shape of a plan might not come until early next week, analysts added.
The bipartisan group, led by Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat of West Virginia, and Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, released the details of their package earlier Wednesday.
Read: Here’s what is in the bipartisan package
Some senators on the political left and the right in Congress want any agreement to include $1,200 in direct payments to Americans.
U.S. stocks prices steam Wednesday on the war of words over a stimulus deal. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.51% was down 66 points.
