New White House offer adds $600 checks to COVID-19 relief package
LA TimesThe Trump administration is back in the middle of Capitol Hill’s confusing COVID-19 negotiations, offering a $916-billion package to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that would send a $600 direct payment to most Americans but eliminate a $300-per-week employment benefit favored by a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators. He offered few details, though House GOP Leader 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 relief bill. Politics Biden urges pandemic relief compromise, testing his faith in bipartisanship Friday’s jobs report and record number of daily COVID-19 deaths underscored the mess Joe Biden inherits — worse than he and Obama had. Democrats angrily rejected the idea, saying McConnell was undermining the efforts of the bipartisan 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 given Democratic control of the House.