Schumer on the Senate floor called on Republicans to pursue a “bipartisan solution” rather than the stunts of recent months.
House and Senate Democrats continue to push for a $2.4 trillion measure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that a smaller bill “doesn’t appeal to me at all.”
“That isn’t something we should be looking at,” she said.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday called on Congress to complete a package this year as the economy has yet to recoup losses the fallout of from Covid-19. The U.S. still has more than 11 million workers unemployed.
“We have not yet beaten the coronavirus or achieved the economic recovery we all desire. Our leaders have wasted five months already. They can’t waste another three,” chamber vice president Neil Bradley said in a statement.
One vehicle for at least some Covid-19 assistance is a vital spending bill that will be needed to avoid the federal government shutting down on Dec. 11, when current funding runs out. Pelosi said Friday that rather than a short-term stopgap measure she favored an omnibus spending bill to complete the appropriations process for the fiscal year through next September.
The Senate is expected to release proposed appropriations bills on Tuesday.
Extended unemployment benefits and pandemic jobless benefits for gig workers are set to expire at the end of the year. With airlines and small businesses under mounting pressure, it will be hard for Congress to do nothing, said Alec Phillips, chief U.S. political economist for Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Phillips argued that it’s “reasonably likely” Congress will pass additional stimulus in negotiations before the Dec. 11 expiration of federal funding.
Senators gave differing indications. Appropriations Committee Chair Richard Shelby said about wrapping Covid-19 relief into spending bills: “There’s been talk about that, but we haven’t seen that. It might not be a bad idea if we can agree on stimulus.”