海角大神

The Trump administration dove back into Capitol Hill鈥檚 confusing COVID-19 negotiations on Tuesday, offering a $916 billion package to
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that would send a $600 direct payment to most Americans 鈥� but eliminate a $300 per week in extra employment benefits favored by a bipartisan聽group of Senate negotiators.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made the offer to Ms. Pelosi late Tuesday afternoon, he said in a statement. He offered few details, though House GOP Leader聽Kevin McCarthy said it proposes the $600 direct payment for individuals and $1,200 for couples, which is half the payment delivered by the March pandemic聽relief bill.

Mr. Mnuchin reached out to Ms. Pelosi after a call with top congressional GOP leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who remains at odds with聽Democratic leaders over COVID-19 relief. Ms. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., responded to Mr. Mnuchin鈥檚 entreaty with a statement that聽said they would prefer to let a bipartisan group take the lead.

The bipartisan group, led by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and GOP Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, among others,聽is seeking to rally lawmakers in both parties behind a $908 billion framework that includes a $300-per-week pandemic jobless benefit and $160 billion for聽states and local governments. It is more generous than a GOP plan that鈥檚 been filibustered twice already but far smaller than a wish list assembled by聽House Democrats.

Mr. McConnell had earlier proposed shelving a top Democratic priority 鈥� aid to state and local governments 鈥� in exchange for dropping his own pet provision,聽a shield against lawsuits for COVID-related negligence. Democrats angrily rejected the idea, saying Mr. McConnell was undermining the efforts of a bipartisan聽group of Senate negotiators and reneging on earlier statements that state and local aid would likely have to be an element of a COVID-19 relief agreement聽given Democratic control of the House.

The $916 billion Mr. Mnuchin offer, the separate ongoing talks among key rank-and-file senators, and the shifting demands by the White House all add up to聽muddled, confusing prospects for a long-delayed COVID-19 aid package. The pressure to deliver is intense 鈥� all sides say failure isn鈥檛 an option.

The Mnuchin plan resurrects direct payments that are popular with President Donald Trump and the public but which are disliked by many Republican lawmakers who say they聽are costly and send too much aid to people who do not need it. Democrats generally embrace the idea.

鈥淩ight now we鈥檙e targeting struggling families, failing businesses, health care workers, and we don鈥檛 have a stimulus check to every single person, regardless聽of need,鈥� said Ms. Collins.

Mr. McConnell said Congress will not adjourn without providing the long-overdue COVID-19 relief. He had previously said he would not put any pandemic relief聽bill on the floor that does not include the liability shield, which is being sought by businesses, universities, nonprofits, and others that are reopening聽during the pandemic.

鈥淟eaving here without a COVID relief package cannot happen,鈥� Mr. McConnell said. 鈥淲hy don鈥檛 we set aside the two obviously most contentious issues. We know聽we鈥檙e going to be confronted with another request after the first of the year. We鈥檒l live to fight those another day.鈥�

Top Senate Democrat Schumer immediately rejected the entreaty, saying the state and local relief is sought by many Republicans, too, including some conservatives聽like Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Mitt Romney of Utah. Ms. Pelosi blasted Mr. McConnell鈥檚 offer as an attempt to undercut the bipartisan group whose framework聽she supports as a foundation for the negotiations.

Ms. Pelosi initially demanded more than $900 billion for state and local governments this spring, but the fiscal situation in the states hasn鈥檛 been as bad聽as feared and Democratic leaders could be willing to accept a $160 billion proposal by the moderate group.

Already, Capitol Hill leaders are moving a government shutdown deadline to the end of next week, but progress is slow and key decisions are yet to be made.聽The House has scheduled a vote on a one-week temporary government funding bill for Wednesday. Without the measure, the government would shut down this聽weekend.

Separately, Ms. Pelosi and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., spoke by phone on Monday to try to kick start talks on a separate聽$1.4 trillion government-wide spending bill. That measure is held up over issues like protections for the sage grouse, the census, and accounting maneuvers聽being employed by lawmakers to squeeze $12 billion more into the legislation.

Mr. McConnell initially proposed a sweeping five-year liability shield, retroactive to December 2019, to protect companies and organizations from COVID-19-related聽lawsuits. Democrats, along with their allies in labor and civil rights groups, roundly dismissed that approach as a danger to workers. And there hasn鈥檛聽been a wave of lawsuits.

鈥淐ontrary to the majority leader鈥檚 dire predictions, there has been no flood of COVID lawsuits. In fact, quite the opposite,鈥� said Mr. Schumer. 鈥淔ar聽from the pandemic of lawsuits, there鈥檚 barely been a trickle.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press.

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