If subsidies end in the US, will there be another stimulus package? 1:20
(CNN) - Senate and White House Republicans continue to disagree on several core components of their upcoming economic stimulus proposal after a full day of negotiations on Capitol Hill.
With less than three weeks to go before the August recess, and with the virus still ravaging many corners of the country, Tuesday's negotiations marked little progress and instead turned into a day of ventilation sessions for base members, each with their own idea of how to approach the next expense chapter. It all comes a few days before a US $ 600 federal unemployment insurance upgrade expires.
The divisions arise on key issues, from President Donald Trump's insistence on a payroll tax cut to the administration's push to link education money with the reopening of schools. There are also several Republicans who are deeply opposed to moving forward on a linked proposal to start at around $ 1 trillion.
- Another 1.3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits for the first time last week
"Everyone has their own idea," said Senator Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, when he left a closed-door meeting.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is pushing for Republicans to rally around a proposal that will serve as a starting point for negotiations with congressional Democrats, who have already passed a $ US measure. 3 billion in May. He told reporters on Tuesday that the proposal he is pushing "enjoys quite significant support among Republican senators." But he acknowledged that "not everyone" supports him.
McConnell, in an earlier speech, outlined the key components expected to be in the Republican Party plan, including $ 105 billion for schools, a second round of targeted funding for the forgivable small business loan program, another round of direct payments and liability protections for companies, hospitals, health workers and schools. It's a proposal that much of the Republican conference is eager to endorse, but several key members are still in discussion with the White House.
The problems, which had been unfolding for a good part of the day as Republican senators raised concerns, questions or direct opposition to key White House principles, were uncovered at a closed-door lunch this Tuesday at attended by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Secretary General Mark Meadows.
"A lot of people had a lot to lose sight of," one Republican senator told CNN. Several senators spoke out against the effectiveness of the payroll tax, the senator said. Others criticized the general path to another significant spending package entirely.
Multiple Republicans, according to a person in the room, raised the question that tax cuts are too costly and take too long to implement at a time when the country needs a quick boost to the economy.
"Maybe three people raised it and they all said the same thing: maybe this is not necessary," the person said of the Republican senators who raised objections.
- 3.2 million more Americans applied for unemployment benefits
Meadows said administration officials viewed the lunch as a listening session and described it as "fairer, the senators speaking and expressing frustration about perhaps where things are."
Republicans still plan to present their proposal this week, and McConnell made it clear that there remains a sense of urgency with millions of people out of work and with the virus still affecting parts of the country.
"The American job market needs another shot of adrenaline," said McConnell.
But as Republicans work on what will end in the Republican proposal, some senators are already lining up against whatever McConnell presents.
"At lunch today I asked my fellow Republicans, 'What the hell are we doing?'" Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told CNN after lunch behind closed doors. "We will see where this ends, we still do not know the details of this initial proposal, but, as it is written at the moment, I am not only a no, I am a curse: NO".
Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, expressed similar sentiments when he left early for lunch, underscoring the shift in dynamics among Republican senators since the $ 2.2 trillion initial package was unanimously approved in March.
The divisions between the White House and Republicans come at a time when core members have seen the president's polls sink into key key states and when the United States has struggled to shake off control of the new coronavirus like the allies. worldwide they have achieved much better results. Negotiations also occur when billions remain unspent on the latest stimulus packages, a point conservatives argue that the next round should be more specific.
Divergent views between the White House and Senate Republicans have had the effect of delaying negotiations expected to begin this week.
"We cannot negotiate on a vague concept. We need a specific bill, ”said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat who was in a separate meeting with Mnuchin, Meadows and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi. "When can you get us that project? Who knows".
Mnuchin, citing improved unemployment funds that expire, is pushing for a deal by the end of next week.
"We are going to try to do something by the end of next week," he told reporters on Capitol Hill. “That is the time period because we want to do something before unemployment insurance expires. This is a process. "
The approximately 75-minute meeting between White House negotiators and Democratic leaders represented the first substantial talks between the two sides in months. But without a Republican proposal, Meadows acknowledged that real negotiations would have to wait.
"Obviously, the leader and president are awaiting any guidance from Senate Republicans," Meadows told the reporter as he left the meeting with Democrats, which he described as "very good."
One area of progress, according to Republican senators, was funding testing and follow-up measures and other key public health agencies. The new funds, proposed by Senate Republicans, had become a central dispute after the White House proposed zeroing in on state testing grants and new funds for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, as well as cut money for efforts on the Pentagon virus.
Meadows and Mnuchin, over the course of several hours and two days, met with the three Republican senators responsible for health issues and appropriations: Senators Richard Shelby of Alabama; Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Roy Blunt of Missouri to try to resolve the differences.
Blunt said the staff is working to get management negotiators to receive more details about their specific requests and needs before reaching a final agreement. Blunt called the discussions with Mnuchin and Meadows "very frank," but said things are "moving in the right direction."
"Like everything here, nothing is done until everything is done, but we are getting closer," Blunt said.
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