By Tucker Higgins
- CNBC
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has agreed to resume negotiations with Democrats to unlock
a financial aid bill for the COVID-19 pandemic
, amid a spike in cases in across the country, Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, announced on Thursday.
"Last night, they agreed to come to the negotiating table and the advisers will meet today or tomorrow to start to see if we can get a really good COVID-19 relief law," said Schumer, minority leader at the Senate, during a press conference in New York.
"So there has been a bit of progress, which is reflected in the fact that the people at McConnell have finally sat down to talk to us," he added.
However, Democratic and Republican advisers have told NBC News, the sister network of Noticias Telemundo, that
Schumer may have exaggerated the progress, given that both parties are beginning negotiations to keep the government financed
and avoid having to close on December 11. due to lack of funds.
Claims for unemployment benefits rose to 742,000 in the last week in the US.
Nov. 19, 202000: 21
Schumer's office did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.
McConnell's office also did not immediately respond.
Negotiations between Democrats and Republicans were already stalled before Democrat Joe Biden's victory over the president, Republican Donald Trump, for lack of agreement on the total cost of the financial aid package and details related to the programs that should be funded.
In fact, Trump himself disagreed with McConnell and the Republican majority in the Senate: The president preferred an ambitious aid package, along the lines of the Democrats, while senators insisted on voting (and twice lost the vote despite a majority) a plan of lesser value and that did not include a check for 1,200 dollars for families.
The hopes that this blockade would change after November 3 were frustrated by the electoral results themselves, which have not caused one of the two sides to give in and the negotiations move forward.
The Democrats have maintained control of the House of Representatives, while the Senate will be decided in January, although there is a good chance that it will remain majority Republican.
It has been months since Congress passed a financial relief law to combat the coronavirus-inflicted recession, which included the first $ 1,200 relief check.
The Senate suspended the session on Wednesday for the Thanksgiving holiday with little evidence that the two sides were any closer to reaching an agreement.
[The White House leaves a possible new economic stimulus in the hands of a divided Congress. Negotiations are still not taking off]
The inaction of Congress has left millions of Americans in an economically precarious position.
Without an extension to the CARES law, passed in March, about 12 million Americans are expected to lose unemployment benefits by the end of December.
A federal moratorium on evictions established as a result of the crisis will also expire at the end of the year.
Meetings between Republican and Democratic staff members would be a first step in what could be a lengthy process.
Democrats have proposed a package of at
least $ 2.2 trillion
, while McConnell has signaled that he will not support legislation that exceeds
$ 500 billion
.
In May, lower house Democrats approved a $ 3 trillion package that would have provided more direct payments to people and extended federal unemployment assistance to $ 600 per week.
Instead, McConnell said he believes relief legislation should have a "limited purpose."
The Senate therefore rejected the Democratic plan.
The prospect of renewed negotiations comes in the context
of an increase in new cases of coronavirus in practically every state in the country
.
More than 250,000 people have died from Covid-19 since it emerged late last year in the United States.
Promising vaccine data released this month has raised hopes of containing the virus, although such an achievement is not expected to become apparent until well into 2021 at the earliest.
[Pfizer Announces That It Will Request FDA Authorization For The Use Of Its COVID-19 Vaccine]
As the pandemic continues to spread, Trump has focused on challenging the results of the presidential election.
On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, told CNN that
the president had not attended a meeting of the coronavirus task force in months
.
Biden has shown his support for the Democrats' proposals for a stimulus package.
"To the millions of Americans who have lost work hours and wages or lost their jobs altogether, we can bring immediate relief and it must be done quickly," Biden said Monday.
"Congress should come together and approve an aid package from Covid," he added.
Biden is expected to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., And Schumer in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday, Pelosi's aides and Biden's transition team told NBC News.
