Latest on the relief negotiations is here. Short version, Pelosi and Mnuchin are still negotiating over a .9 trillion bill; McConnell is floating the idea of a 0 billion dollar bill, but it is far from clear he can or even wants to pass anything. If Pelosi can get to a deal with Mnuchin, that’s great. I still think that the House should pass a bill with or without sign off from Mnuchin and challenge Trump and Senate Republicans to pass it. But I would add now that the House should consider passing a 0 billion bill and calling McConnell’s bluff. Part of the impetus for hanging tough on a big bill was to limit the ability of Senate Republicans to sabotage a Biden presidency by withholding any further relief (which they would surely do). But it
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Latest on the relief negotiations is here. Short version, Pelosi and Mnuchin are still negotiating over a $1.9 trillion bill; McConnell is floating the idea of a $500 billion dollar bill, but it is far from clear he can or even wants to pass anything.
If Pelosi can get to a deal with Mnuchin, that’s great. I still think that the House should pass a bill with or without sign off from Mnuchin and challenge Trump and Senate Republicans to pass it.
But I would add now that the House should consider passing a $500 billion bill and calling McConnell’s bluff. Part of the impetus for hanging tough on a big bill was to limit the ability of Senate Republicans to sabotage a Biden presidency by withholding any further relief (which they would surely do). But it looks increasingly likely that the Democrats will take the Senate and be able to pass their own bill in January. Of course this is not guaranteed, but we need to play the probabilities. If the polling holds up on the Senate, the main aim should be to get through the next 3 months without too much human suffering and economic damage. $500 billion is not enough, but properly targeted it would be a lot better than nothing. Passing an inadequate bill would not help the Republicans politically, and it might help the Democrats drive home how intransigent and destructive Republicans are being on coronavirus relief.