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US Lawmakers Again at Impasse on Second Round of COVID-19 Aid

Katherine Gypson

   WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate failed to pass a trimmed-down coronavirus
   relief package Thursday, capping months of unsuccessful negotiations to
   bring a second round of economic aid to millions of Americans impacted
   by the pandemic. The $500 billion proposal put forward by Senate
   Republicans failed to advance to debate on a 52-47 vote.

   The failure significantly increases the prospect U.S. lawmakers will
   not pass a relief package before the November 3 election. Members of
   Congress are expected to leave Washington to campaign in their home
   districts after passing a continuing resolution funding the government
   past a September 30 deadline.

   The proposal's defeat also means millions of Americans put out of work
   by coronavirus closures earlier in the year will not receive enhanced
   federal unemployment benefits. Under the $3 trillion CARES Act passed
   by bipartisan agreement in March, unemployed workers received an extra
   $600 a week in benefits. Those benefits expired at the end of July.

   The Senate Republicans' proposal would have funded unemployment
   insurance, child care and coronavirus testing, and it would have
   created liability protections for businesses, schools and churches
   operating during the pandemic.

   Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell framed Democratic opposition to
   the proposal as an effort to politicize the aid ahead of the upcoming
   election.

   "Senators who share the Democratic leader's toxic attitude, who think
   the real enemy are their political opponents, may follow his lead and
   vote 'no.' They can tell American families they care more about
   politics than helping them. But senators who want to move forward will
   vote 'yes.' They'll vote to advance this process so we can shape it
   into a bipartisan product and make a law for the American people,"
   McConnell said on the Senate floor Thursday.

   Congressional Democrats have argued much more aid is needed, using the
   $3 trillion Heroes Act passed in June by the Democratic-controlled U.S.
   House of Representatives as a starting point in negotiations.

   "Let's not have a skinny bill when we have a massive problem," House
   Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday, describing her objections to the
   Republican proposal to reporters.

   "We need every penny in order to stop this. And that's the way we're
   going to open up our economy. And that's the way we're going to open up
   our schools safely, is by crushing the virus," she said.

   Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed back against a Republican
   assertion the narrowly focused proposal represented a compromise.

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