Author: Andrew Taylor
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Pelosi and Mnuchin have ‘extensive’ talks on COVID relief
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WASHINGTON • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held an “extensive conversation” Wednesday on a huge COVID-19 rescue package, meeting face to face for the first time in more than a month in a last-ditch effort to seal a tentative accord on an additional round of coronavirus relief. After a 90-minute meeting…
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Democrats to redraft virus relief in bid to jump-start talks
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WASHINGTON • House Democrats are going back to the drawing board on a huge COVID-19 relief bill, paring back the measure in an attempt to jump-start negotiations with the Trump administration. The Democratic-controlled chamber could also pass the $2.4 trillion measure next week if talks fall through to demonstrate that the party isn’t giving up…
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House easily passes stopgap funding bill, averting shutdown
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WASHINGTON • In a sweeping bipartisan vote that takes a government shutdown off the table, the House passed a temporary governmentwide funding bill Tuesday night, shortly after President Donald Trump prevailed in a behind-the-scenes fight over his farm bailout. The stopgap measure will keep federal agencies fully up and running into December, giving lame-duck lawmakers…
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GOP’s slimmed-down virus bill scuttled by Senate Democrats
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WASHINGTON • Senate Democrats scuttled a scaled-back GOP coronavirus rescue package on Thursday as the parties argued to a standstill over the size and scope of the aid, likely ending hopes for coronavirus relief before the November election. The mostly party-line vote capped weeks of wrangling that gave way to election-season political combat and name-calling…
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Trump, GOP suggest temporary fix for $600 jobless benefit
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WASHINGTON • The White House and some of its Republican allies in the Senate are signaling they want to extend, at least temporarily, a $600-per-week expanded jobless benefit that has helped keep families and the economy afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. The move looks to be too little, too late to prevent the lapse of…
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Floyd’s brother pleads with Congress for overhaul
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WASHINGTON • George Floyd’s brother challenged Congress on Wednesday to “stop the pain” as lawmakers consider a sweeping law enforcement overhaul, so the man he loved and looked up to won’t be just “another name” on a growing list of black Americans killed during interactions with police. Philonise Floyd’s appearance before a House hearing came…
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House casts proxy votes in pandemic
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WASHINGTON • It’s a day for the history books on Capitol Hill: For the first time, House lawmakers were voting by proxy, an unprecedented move to avoid the risk of travel to Washington during the pandemic. To mark Wednesday’s history-making moment, House Republicans sued to stop the majority party from going ahead with the new…
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Pelosi unveils $3T virus bill, warns inaction costs more
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WASHINGTON • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a more than $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Tuesday, a sweeping effort with $1 trillion for states and cities, “hazard pay” for essential workers and a new round of cash payments to individuals. The House is expected to vote on the package as soon as Friday. But Senate…
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Senators block new virus aid package
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WASHINGTON • Senators torpedoed quick passage of a new coronavirus aid package Thursday, with Democrats rejecting a Trump administration request for $250 billion to boost a small business payroll fund and Republicans refusing Democrats’ demand for another $250 billion for hospitals and states. The standoff doesn’t end the pursuit of more rescue funds. Democrats and…
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Senate passes coronavirus rescue package on unanimous vote
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate late Wednesday passed an unparalleled $2.2 trillion economic rescue package steering aid to businesses, workers and health care systems engulfed by the coronavirus pandemic. The unanimous vote came despite misgivings on both sides about whether it goes too far or not far enough and capped days of difficult negotiations as…