Well to the surprise of no one, Mitch McConnell couldn't deliver on his ambitious timeline.
Senate talks break down as Pelosi takes over
Quote:
Hopes for a quick bipartisan deal on a massive stimulus package quickly unraveled on Sunday as lawmakers remain deadlocked on several key provisions.
A meeting between the four congressional leaders and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin failed to break the stalemate as Democrats voiced concern that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is trying to jam them with a bill they have not signed off on.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said as he left the meeting that they did not have a deal.
“We continue to talk,” he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said after the meeting that House Democrats would offer their own stimulus package that she hoped would be “compatible” with the Senate’s package.
“I don’t know about Monday but we’re still talking,” Pelosi told reporters, referring to the preferred GOP timeline for passing a bill.
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Negotiators have been in around-the-clock negotiations on the stimulus package, which is expected to cost between $1.5 and $2 trillion.
Both McConnell and Schumer appeared optimistic as they left the Capitol on Saturday evening that there would be a bipartisan deal.
But that feeling quickly soured as Republicans moved forward with drafting the legislation without Democratic support. GOP senators and White House aides say the bill is written to include bipartisan agreement where negotiators were able to reach it. In instances where they weren’t, Republicans say they wrote the provisions in a way that they hoped could win bipartisan support.
Democrats accused Republicans of walking away from talks and putting provisions in the bill that they know Democrats could not support.
A source familiar with the GOP bill text said Republicans are “refusing to add strong worker protections” and have included language requiring companies keep employees “to the extent possible.”
Democrats worry the language is vague enough that corporations could take federal help and still fire workers. Democrats also wanted strong restrictions on corporations who take federal help, but the source said the GOP bill included “very weak” stock buyback restrictions that could be waived by Mnuchin.
The talks seemed doomed when the Republicans started writing the bill before they even had a deal. This is going to be the largest stimulus package in history, and McConnell was trying to ram it through as fast as possible, not even sure if his own party was on board. Refusing to include Pelosi directly from the get go was also stupid.
Now the House takes over. Pelosi and Mnuchin will hammer out a bill with or without the Senate. McConnell can stage his vote later today, who knows, maybe they will strike a deal in the next hour, but I doubt it. After it fails he can hope Pelosi will include him in the talks.