Top White House negotiators are urging to scale down the next coronavirus relief legislation, just one before Senate Republicans are expected to roll out their $1 trillion proposals. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin both hinted at the possibility of approving a less ambitious proposal, on Sunday, in their television show appearances.
Aside from that, several aides told CNN that it has recently become an ideal option in discussion between Senate Republicans and the administration officials. In an interview on ABC's This Week, Meadows said they are willing to provide unemployment insurance, and probably a retention credit in a bid to restrict people from being displaced, and return to workplaces, or helping with the schools.
Meadows hopes to do that along with liability protection, putting that forward and getting that passed so that they can negotiate on the rest of the bill in the coming weeks. The consideration of reducing efforts even before Republicans release their proposal shows how difficult the impending bipartisan negotiations are likely to be.
Multiple officials claim the reason administration officials are pushing for a less ambitious effort is due to last week's meeting that involved House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Meadows, and Mnuchin. One administration official claimed they moved away from that significantly less optimistic that something can get done.
A scaled-down proposal would revolve around deadline issues, including the unemployment benefits that are slated to expire at the end of this month, and the education funding which expires just weeks ahead of schools reopening. If Republicans stick to the idea, it is likely to put pressure on Democrats ahead of the unemployment benefit deadline.
Pelosi has clarified that the Democrats will not consider a multi-phased approach, telling reporters that they cannot piecemeal a package. In collaboration with the White House negotiators, the staff of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell found a myriad of issues with the broader GOP proposal, and several sources and Meadows claim the proposals could finally roll out on Monday.
The aforesaid proposal will reflect the GOP opening offer, one that the Democrats have been waiting with bated breath for after passing their $3 trillion proposals in the House earlier this year. It will comprise 105 billion for schools, another round of direct payments to individuals, families, the second round of small business loans, tax incentives for re-hiring, and retro-fitting workplaces to restrict coronavirus from spreading.
McConnell planned to roll out the proposal last week, but much to his chagrin, several administration officials raised technical and extraneous issues at the time, delaying the process and dragging talks throughout the weekend. The biggest hold up has revolved around the GOP proposal to focus on the $600 federal unemployment benefit that is slated to expire soon, according to CNN.