WASHINGTON (AP) – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has backtracked on a pop-up COVID-19 relief package from a bipartisan group of lawmakers, noting that Republican senators will not support a $ 160 billion package for state and local funds as part of a potential swap in the deal.
McConnell staff informed top negotiators that the Republican leader does not see a path to agreement on a key aspect of the legislators’ current proposal – a reduced version of liability protection for companies and organizations facing potential lawsuits over COVID-19 – in exchange for the $ 160 billion in state and municipal funds that the Democrats seek.
A senior Democratic official confirmed that McConnell’s position was expressed to negotiators. The official requested anonymity to discuss the private conversations. McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
McConnell’s firm stance, which does not appear to have enough Republican votes for a far-reaching commitment, creates a new stalemate on the more than $ 900 billion package, despite several days of work by a bipartisan group of lawmakers with the goal of reaching an agreement.
The situation comes as President Donald Trump’s top negotiator on financial aid for COVID-19 took the opposite stance. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday reported progress on the package from the bipartisan group of senators.
“I think we are making significant progress,” said Mnuchin.
Deadlines, real and perceived, have not been sufficient to bring the Washington factions to an agreement, despite the fact that the United States surpassed the historical mark of 3,000 daily deaths from coronavirus and hospitals touch the limits of their capacity due to contagions to Nacional level.
A one-week temporary measure to avoid a government shutdown appears to have reduced the urgency of the negotiations. The long-term, government-wide funding law, passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives, needs to be cleared by the Senate by midnight Friday to avoid a partial suspension of government activities.
The next deadline would be December 18, but leaders of both houses say they will not suspend their negotiations without approving an aid measure.
Yet many Republicans have long viewed the state and municipal relief fund as a bailout that they would have trouble backing, despite requests for funds from governors and mayors across the country.
