WASHINGTON–A phase IV stimulus package is closer to the front burner following remarks by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin before the House on Thursday.
Mnuchin said he believes a “bipartisan agreement still should be reached" during a hearing of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
The Treasury secretary said he is hopeful any stimulus/relief spending will including funding for schools, testing, vaccines, child care and other issues.
As CUToday.info has reported, discussions on Capitol Hill on new stimulus spending in response to the coronavirus pandemic has been stalled since early August, with Democrats in the House and Republicans in the Senate passing significantly different packages.
During the hearing, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and the chairman of the select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis said “additional fiscal stimulus is urgently needed,” and he called on Mnuchin to return to the negotiating table on behalf of the administration.
Mnuchin said both he and President Trump support additional funding, but said he is opposed to a $2-trillion plan some Democrats have said they would consider after passing a $3-trillion stimulus package earlier.
Support for PPP
Mnuchin did say he believes stand-alone action related to the Paycheck Protection Program would receive "overwhelming support" on Capitol Hill.
"We have over $130 billion left in PPP, which I believe if Congress was willing to take up a stand-alone action to repurpose this money for additional funds, I believe this would pass with overwhelming support in the House and the Senate and I would encourage the House to move forward with that," Mnuchin said. “As it relates to jobs, the area that has overwhelming bipartisan support that I believe would be easiest to pass on a stand-alone basis would be the PPP. Let's not get caught on a number. Let's agree on things we can move forward on a bipartisan basis now. I don't think the right outcome is zero. Nobody thinks the right outcome is zero.”
Mnuchin said he plans to contact House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to discuss renewing negotiations.
$500-Billion Plan
Separately, Senate Republicans are pulling reportedly putting together a narrow $500-billion COVID-19 relief package, and the measure could be up for a vote as soon as next week.
The legislation is part of an effort to prod Democrats back to the negotiating table, according to Bloomberg.
“GOP lawmakers in the Senate, with encouragement from the White House, have been working for several weeks on a slimmed-down virus stimulus that would spend much less money than the $1-trillion proposal put forward by Senate Republicans last month,” Bloomberg reported. “
Bloomberg noted President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said earlier this week that the Democratic proposal of a $2.2-trillion package isn’t realistic and that a $500-billion plan more targeted at areas of the economy still being hurt by the pandemic would be a good starting point for negotiations.
According to Bloomberg, one draft of the Senate GOP proposal circulating would provide $300 per week in supplemental unemployment benefits through December, but omit the $1,200 per individual stimulus checks that the White House and Democrats favor. It would convert a previous $10-billion loan to the troubled Postal Service to a grant.
Lots of Opposition
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that as many as 20 of his 53 member conference oppose doing any further stimulus spending, an illustration of the difficulty the party has on agreeing to an approach, according to the report.
The Senate’s slimmed-down proposal could also ultimately be attached to a stopgap spending bill needed to keep the government open after Oct. 1, Bloomberg noted.
The Senate returns to session next week; the House the week after that.