TLTP
\nWASHINGTON
\nFew signs of progress toward a coronavirus relief deal emerged as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said Republican senators won\u2019t support $160 billion in state and local funds as part of a potential trade-off in the deal.
\nMcConnell\u2019s staff conveyed to top negotiators that the GOP leader sees no path to an agreement on a key aspect of the lawmakers\u2019 existing proposal \u2014 a slimmed-down version of the liability shield for companies and organizations facing potential COVID-19 lawsuits \u2014 in exchange for $160 billion in state and local funds that Democrats want.
\nA senior Democrat confirmed that McConnell\u2019s position was conveyed to negotiators and was granted anonymity to discuss the private talks. McConnell\u2019s office did not immediately respond for a request for comment.
\nThe hardened stance from McConnell, who does not appear to have the votes from Republicans for a far-reaching compromise, creates a new stalemate over the $900-billion-plus package, despite days of toiling by a bipartisan group of lawmakers toward a deal.
\nIt comes as President Donald Trump\u2019s top negotiator on COVID-19 financial aid took the opposite view. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reported headway Thursday on the package from the bipartisan senators\u2019 group.
\n\u201cI think we\u2019re making a lot of progress,\u201d Mnuchin said.
\nDeadlines, real and perceived, haven\u2019t been sufficient to drive Washington\u2019s factions to an agreement, despite the U.S. breaking a record-high 3,000 daily COVID fatalities, and hospitals straining at capacity from soaring caseloads nationwide.
\nA one-week stop-gap measure to prevent a federal shutdown appears to have sapped some urgency from the talks. The short-term government-wide funding bill, approved by the House on Wednesday, needs to clear the Senate before Friday at midnight to avert a partial closure.
\nThe next deadline would be Dec. 18, but both House and Senate leaders say they won\u2019t adjourn without passing an aid measure.
\nBut many Republicans have long viewed the state and local aid as a bailout they would have trouble supporting, despite the pleas for funds coming from governors and mayors nationwide.
\nHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is sending lawmakers home while talks continue, said Congress would keep working up to or even after Christmas to get an agreement. The new Congress is being sworn in on Jan. 3.
\n\u201cNow if we need more time then we take more time, but we have to have a bill and we cannot go home without it,\u201d Pelosi said. She also gave an upbeat assessment on the talks.
\nMcConnell has proposed a five-year liability shield from virus lawsuits, retroactive to December 2019, but the bipartisan group was eyeing a scaled-back shield of six months to a year. Labor and civil rights groups oppose any shield, which they say strips essential workers of potential legal recourse as they take risks during the pandemic.
\nRepublicans say the right people to handle final negotiations are the four leaders of Congress and the Trump administration, with the focus on a proposal by McConnell, R-Ky., to eliminate a Democratic demand for $160 billion or so in assistance for state and local governments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TLTP WASHINGTON Few signs of progress toward a coronavirus relief deal emerged as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said Republican senators won\u2019t support $160 billion in state and local funds as part of a potential trade-off in the deal. McConnell\u2019s staff conveyed to top negotiators that the GOP leader sees no path to an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-161417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n