A new coronavirus stimulus package looks unlikely until Biden administration
LA TimesHopes that Congress would move swiftly after the election to provide more coronavirus relief for Americans are fading as Senate Republicans continue to resist large spending measures and pressure from President Trump to take action has waned. “We need to think about — if we’re going to come up with a bipartisan package here — about what size is appropriate,” McConnell said. “I don’t think the current situation demands a multi- trillion-dollar package.” With only about half of the 22 million jobs lost from the pandemic shutdown having returned, the recovery still has a long way to go, and growth is now slowing as COVID-19 cases begin to reach levels never before seen in the United States. “And I’m glad to see decision that he’s going to step up and do our negotiating, and try to put a bill on the president’s desk that the president can sign.” But since the election, there have been no new negotiations — or attempts at negotiation — between McConnell and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. If you don’t crush the virus, we’re still going to have to be dealing with the consequences of the virus.” Lame-duck sessions of Congress — the period when lawmakers who just survived or lost reelection return to Washington for work before the new Congress is sworn in in January — are notoriously difficult.