This isn’t 2016-2018….
Democrats have a 40 seat majority in the US House ….
Republicans will get nothing from the House Speaker Pelosi unless they make a ‘deal’ with her…
Economists warn that cutting the benefit would hurt the economy….
Senate GOP leader has stepped back and let the Treasury Sec Mnuchin and Trump chief of staff Meadows talk to Pelosi and Schumer…
The top Democrats on Capitol Hill are doubling down on their demand for an additional $600 in jobless benefits as part of a coronavirus package, warning that slashing the subsidy would undermine the economic recovery on the whole.
“We’re with the 600 [dollars],” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday during a press briefing in the Capitol.
The posture is an indication that, with federal unemployment subsidies having expired last week — and with Republicans in sharp conflict over a fix — Democrats think they have the leverage to insist on the continuation of the $600 weekly payment, adopted as part of the CARES Act in March.
Schumer predicted a domino effect if the jobless benefits are not restored quickly, warning that evictions will rise, retail spending will fall — and any shot at a timely recovery will be lost.
“They don’t understand the crisis in the country,” he said of the Republicans. “They don’t understand its depth. They don’t understand its breadth. They don’t understand the suffering.”
Appearing with Schumer, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the sides are “making some progress,” but emphasized that Democrats “want to see the whole package” as negotiators continue to lumber, inch by inch, toward an agreement.
The suggestion is that Democrats might accept a reduction in the $600 subsidy if the difference was returned to the pockets of the unemployed via some other program, like an increase in the direct payments to individuals and families.
With Republicans showing little interest in hiking worker benefits elsewhere, however, Democrats are sticking with their initial demand.
“We have said that we’re going to have the $600,” Pelosi said. “And they know that we want the $600.”
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President Trump said Thursday that he would likely move forward with an executive order on coronavirus relief later this week if the White House and Congress do not make progress in their negotiations.
Trump told reporters the executive order would come “probably tomorrow afternoon” or the following morning. He made the remarks at Joint Base Andrews before departing for a trip to Ohio for official and campaign business….
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Trump insisted this week that he has the authority to issue executive orders to reinstate the expanded unemployment insurance benefits, reinstate a federal moratorium on evictions and suspend the payroll tax.
“Upon departing the Oval Office for Ohio, I’ve notified my staff to continue working on an Executive Order with respect to Payroll Tax Cut, Eviction Protections, Unemployment Extensions, and Student Loan Repayment Options,” Trump tweeted earlier Thursday before leaving for Ohio….