The U.S. Senate’s top Republican and Democrat faced off on Monday over the size of fiscal stimulus needed to support the economy, dimming any hopes for an immediate package as lawmakers reconvene following the election.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Congress should pass a limited stimulus bill by year-end, in the wake of positive data on a slide in unemployment and after encouraging news on a Covid-19 vaccine.
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer by contrast said Republicans “have proposed totally inadequate solutions” on Covid-19 relief.
News from Pfizer Inc. that its experimental vaccine might be 90% effective introduced a fresh dynamic into the outlook for stimulus, and spurred a rally in U.S. equities Monday. While hailing the development, President-elect Joe Biden warned that the U.S. still faces a “dark winter” with the coronavirus continuing to spread.
“That still takes time -- it’s an eternity to wait until February, let alone the time it will take to distribute a vaccine fully,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist for Grant Thornton LLP. Delays in passing another stimulus risk damaging the economy’s capacity to grow for years to come as more people slip into long-term unemployment, small businesses collapse and families postpone or give up on education, she said.
For the moment, the American economic recovery has continued even with the expiration of fiscal support. The jobless rate fell by a percentage point, to 6.9% in October, data showed Friday.
“It turns out the news is a whole lot better” lately, McConnell said on the Senate floor. “I hope our Democratic colleagues will finally put aside their all-or-nothing obstruction and let the targeted pandemic relief -- targeted pandemic relief is what we need -- let it move forward.”
McConnell said that the Senate should pass relief in the post-election congressional session, which began Monday and is slated to end in mid-December.
“To be clear, our work is not finished. Too many Americans are still suffering economically,” he said.
Senate Republicans have supported a $500 billion virus package, without $1,200 stimulus checks for individuals or aid to states and local governments.