After the passage of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, the legislation that included $1,200 checks and $500 checks for dependents and small business loan assistance, one question has gripped Washington: What next?
With the economic impacts of coronavirus-related shutdowns still being acutely felt across the U.S., many in Congress are calling for more relief. But after negotiations between Republicans and Democrats came to a halt, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she intended to pass her own spending bill.
The bill will include $750 billion for states and local governments, money that local governments have been asking for as they push the limits of their budgets. But the rest of the bill is up in the air, prompting a deluge of letters and advocacy from House Democrats looking to put their own proposals in the spending bill — including from Minnesota’s Democratic representatives in the House.
Omar calls for student loan relief
In a letter with 30 other Democrats, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota’s Fifth District on Friday asked Pelosi to consider student loan cancellation in any future COVID-19 response. “While we appreciate the steps taken in the CARES Act to provide temporary protections for many federal student loan borrowers, our response efforts to date have simply failed to meet the scale of the looming economic crisis,” the letter said. “Jobless claims have skyrocketed, and Federal Reserve experts predict they may exceed Great Depression-era levels.”
Omar is also proposing a change to the CARES Act to allow mixed-status families or couples where only one member has a social security number to receive the one-time $1,200 and $500 checks. Currently, if one person in a jointly filing couple does not have a social security number, neither receive a check.
Craig wants money to study the links between human and animal health
Other members in the Minnesota delegation have been rushing out letters to the Speaker at well. Rep. Angie Craig’s office seemed to pick up pace in the last few days, sending or signing letter after letter, as well as releasing new legislation.
Craig and Rep. Betty McCollum of St. Paul also joined 82 other members in asking for relief for the US Postal Service, a letter with six other members asking for $100 billion for child care in the next bill (the proposal mirrors the work Sens. Tina Smith and Elizabeth Warren have been doing in the Senate), and joined two other members in introducing the Protecting the Paycheck Protection Program Act of 2020, which would ensure small business owners receive tax deductions in addition to forgivable Paycheck Program Program loans.
All of this is in addition to what Craig has already proposed. Last month, Craig, along with Smith, also proposed a fix to the CARES Act that would allow dependents over the age of seventeen to receive a one time stimulus payment.
Phillips pushes additional oversight
While Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota’s Third District did not send any public letters to Speaker Pelosi, Phillips has continued his approach of pushing out short bills that could fit into any COVID-19 response legislation. Phillips earlier this month proposed significant expansions to domestic American service programs and stronger benefits for those who had to evacuate from abroad.
The vote on any House legislation will come no earlier than Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal. It might not get far beyond that: Republican leadership on Monday said they are not in a rush to pass any future coronavirus legislation, with Senate Majority Whip John Thune of South Dakota telling Politico the bill is just “a messaging document.”
“We have not yet felt the urgency of acting immediately,” Senate Majority Mitch McConnell reporters on Monday. “That time could develop, but I don’t think it has yet.”
Comments (8)
Pelosi has been running the U.S. House by fiat for the last few months, and concerns of average citizens are not her major focus, just as they are not for Schumer and McConnell. For instance, Pelosi proposed a cap on the State and Local Tax (SALT) cap, which benefits millionaires. Also, she has not voiced opposition to the recent proposal to give bailout funds to lobbyists on K street.
I did not like the political policy positions of the Republicans in the Freedom Caucus, but I respected their tactics in attacking power. A small group led my Mark Mulvaney used their power to unseat John Boehner as the House Speaker and get many of their proposals into House legislation. Unfortunately, House Democrats, including the Progressive Caucus, are unwilling to challenge Pelosi’s power and instead propose legislation that has very little chance of passage, since they wield little leverage and are unwilling to openly challenge her absolute authority.
What nonsense. Pelosi was elected by the caucus and can be removed at any time. The fact that she is still there reflects the broad support for her leadership. She runs the House, but not the Senate or the Presidency, and therefore she (and most representatives) understand that compromise is required
The way the freedom caucus wields power is absolutely cancerous and destructive. I credit Pelosi and the Democrats (and most progressives) for standing up to that nonsense.
Democrats, like Republicans, are beholden to their corporate masters and have done very little in the past several decades to help members of the working class. Many millions of people in recent weeks have lost their jobs, meaning a loss of health insurance, also. Still, the Democrats refuse to address the health crisis with Hilary and Pelosi talking about buying into Cobra, which is totally absurd when unemployed people have little or no money.
While millions of working people go to dangerous jobs exposing themselves to the virus in the service sector, health care, etc., Steny Hoyer stated that House members would stay home and return to D.C only in case of a national emergency, since it is not safe. That statement requires no comment and shows the arrogance of the House leadership.
And how can democrats address the health crisis? Have you not been paying attention to the politics around healthcare for the last 3 1/2 years? Your comments appear stated as though they have 100% control of the House, Senate, Presidency and the Judicial branch.
Get your facts right. The COBRA bill subsidizes the former employee payments.
You really have to stop watching Fox News and the left-wing equivalents.
Pelosi was returned to power by promising to step down, I believe, in 2022. Nonsense is suggesting that she will not be the Speaker prior to then, at least not unless illness or death remove her.
There are two different questions here.
There is the idea that she is ruling by fiat and couldn’t be removed. That is utter nonsense. She could be removed at any time by a vote of her caucus.
She won’t be removed because she has broad support within her caucus. Even the reps who think she is not doing enough know she they don’t have the votes. Remember that the options to replace her last time were all further to the center. And even a further left alternative wouldn’t get anything more through with a Republican Senate and President.
Maybe the real questions here is, do folks want a repeat of 2008 where the average Joe and Jane were left in the dust with the TARP bailout, but banks etc. walked away with the cake? And, will folks think twice about electing someone that is all about self promotion/aggrandizement and clueless on running a 330 M person, $21.4T GDP economy, and would rather spend his days tweeting about fake conspiracy theories than addressing the problems?