Capitol Report: Schumer vows impeachment won’t slow down coronavirus package

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she wants to get the bill done by the end of February, and Democrats have been pointing to the mid-March expiration of pandemic-related jobless benefits as a hard deadline that must be kept.

Schumer, speaking at a Capitol press conference, said the Senate was capable of tackling both impeachment and the economic package.

“We can do both at once,” he said.

“The bottom line is simple. The Senate is moving full steam ahead on a bold plan to get this country out of the crisis, to speed vaccination distribution, provide a lifeline to small businesses, help schools reopen safely, save the jobs of teachers, firefighters and other public employees and so much more,” Schumer said.

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It’s still unclear exactly how the process will spool out procedurally. While committees in both chambers received instructions to come up with legislation that would be immune to the 60-vote filibuster in the Senate, the Senate could instead take up the House bill after it is approved, amend it and send it back to the House for final passage.

That strategy, sometimes referred to as “ping pong,” was used in 2017 by Republicans. It would save time by avoiding having two competing bills — one from the Senate and one from the House — that would need to be smoothed into a final form in a conference committee.

Sen. Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters it was up to Schumer to decide what the Senate will do next.

“There are a variety of ways to get input from members,” he said.

The House Education and Labor Committee, one of a dozen House panels that received instructions to write up legislation in the budget, began consideration of its portion of what will become the House reconciliation bill Tuesday afternoon. Other committees are set to follow throughout the week.

Read more: Democrats unveil details of $1.9 trillion stimulus package

Among the major provisions in the draft legislation unveiled by committees so far:

• $1,400 direct payments for each eligible family member, similar to two other payments approved by Congress in December and last March. Unlike those, however, adults that are still claimed as dependents, like college students, would count in the calculation of the payments.
• A one-year boost in the child tax credit from $2,000 per child credit to $3,000 ($3,600 for children under 6) per child, to be paid out in monthly installments. The credit would be reduced by $50 for every $1,000 of modified adjusted gross income $75,000 for single filers and $150,000 for joint filers, and then plateau at $2,000.
• A raise in the federal minimum wage, from $7.25 an hour currently to $9.50 this year and rising until it hits $15 an hour in 2025. The wage would afterwards be indexed to a measure of median hourly wages of all employees.
• An increase of $7.25 billion in loan authority for the Paycheck Protection Program, which makes forgivable loans to small businesses, and expanding eligibility to include new types of non-profits.
• Establishment of a $25 billion “restaurant revitalization fund” at the Small Business Administration for aid to restaurants and bars, with $5 billion set aside for businesses with less than $500,000 in revenue in 2019.

Once all the committees have finished writing their portions, the House Budget Committee will meet and package the submissions together as a single bill. If the Senate takes it up, there could be another “vote-a-rama” extended series of votes on the Senate floor before it would make its way back to the House, if needed.

Democrats have tried to project unity throughout the process so far, but that will likely be tested on several issues, including on how broad the eligibility should be for the new round of direct checks, and details of the minimum wage.