Tag: Senate GOP

White House, Senate GOP clash over testing funds

The Hill logoSenate Republicans are clashing with the White House over whether to include new money for coronavirus testing in the next relief package, which lawmakers estimate could swell to $2 trillion once Democratic demands are included.

The intraparty tension in the GOP could give Democrats leverage as congressional discussions intensify over the next couple weeks.

White House negotiators led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows want to keep the size of the initial Republican offer to around $1 trillion. They’re balking at including another $25 billion for COVID-19 testing because states still haven’t spent much of the money Congress has already appropriated for testing. Congress appropriated $25 billion for testing in the $484 billion interim relief package Congress passed in April.

Is Trump Using Next Stimulus Package To Undermine Funding Of Social Security And Medicare?

Could a payroll tax cut be a Trojan horse to undercut Social Security and Medicare?

Trump Demands Payroll Tax Cut For Next Stimulus Bill

President Trump has thrown an unnecessary wrench into the next coronavirus stimulus package negotiations by demanding that it include a payroll tax cut. Earlier in the week, his advisor, Stephen Moore, foreshadowed Trump’s red-line. “High-ranking White House officials have told me that we will not sign a phase four deal without a payroll tax cut,” Stephen Moore, a White House economic adviser, told The Washington Post. “I have talked to several high-level people in the White House who said the president will not sign [the legislation] if it does not include a payroll tax cut.” Trump confirmed this view, although in his usual equivocal way, during an interview with Chris Wallace, saying, “I would consider not signing it if we don’t have a payroll tax cut.”

Payroll Tax Cut Are Effective, But Not Against Coronavirus Crisis

Republicans and Democrats alike have been lukewarm on a payroll tax holiday and for good reason. It’s an ineffective, policy tool that isn’t well suited for the current crisis. Continue reading.

Trump faces divisions with Senate GOP on virus aid

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump insisted “good things” were underway on the next COVID-19 aid package Monday as he met with Republican congressional leaders, but new divisions between the Senate GOP and the White House posed fresh challenges as the crisis worsened and emergency relief was soon expiring.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been prepared to roll out the $1 trillion package in a matter of days. But the administration criticized more virus testing money and interjected other priorities that could complicate quick passage.

“We’ve made a lot of progress,” Trump said as the meeting got underway.

But the president acknowledged the “big flare up” of rising caseloads and deaths in the states. “Unfortunately, this is something that’s very tough,” he said. Continue reading.

Trump administration pushing to block new money for testing, tracing and CDC in upcoming coronavirus relief bill

Washington Post logoWhite House posture angers some GOP senators who are trying to include billions of dollars in the bill

The Trump administration is trying to block billions of dollars for states to conduct testing and contact tracing in the upcoming coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks said Saturday.

The administration is also trying to block billions of dollars that GOP senators want to allocate for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and billions more for the Pentagon and State Department to address the pandemic at home and abroad, the people said.

The administration’s posture has angered some GOP senators, the officials said, and some lawmakers are trying to push back and ensure that the money stays in the bill. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal confidential deliberations, cautioned that the talks were fluid and the numbers were in flux. Continue reading.

GOP senators sound alarm as coronavirus surges in home states

The Hill logoSenate Republicans are raising the alarm over the country’s rapidly growing number of coronavirus cases.

The warnings come as President Trump has repeatedly linked the recent spike to an increase in testing, while also overselling his administration’s response and appearing optimistic about the odds of a quick vaccine or the disappearance of the virus altogether.

But GOP senators — back in their home states, many of which are seeing increased case counts — are painting a more sobering picture with their on-the-ground view. Continue reading.

Senate GOP proposing five-year shield from coronavirus lawsuits

The Hill logoSenate Republicans are preparing to offer a five-year shield from coronavirus lawsuits as part of a forthcoming relief proposal.

The proposal would be retroactive from December 2019 through 2024, or the end of an emergency declaration issued by the Department of Health and Human Services if that is later, according to a draft summary obtained by The Hill.

The proposal, which is currently being reviewed by the White House, would give federal courts jurisdiction over lawsuits related to personal injuries or medical liability tied to coronavirus infections, preventing lawsuits in state courts, where business groups have warned about uneven laws. Continue reading.

GOP senator says people are ‘enjoying’ pandemic because they ‘hate America’

Sen. John Kennedy told people who want to keep schools closed to kiss his ass.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) claimed on Monday that many people only want to keep schools closed during the coronavirus pandemic for political gain.

“America’s going through a rough patch right now,” Kennedy told Fox News. “Some people seem to be enjoying it. Maybe they just hate America. Maybe they just enjoy watching the world burn. I think some are liking the chaos because they think it gives them a political advantage.”

Kennedy argued that schools need to be reopened fully because “for many of our kids, keeping these schools closed is gonna hurt them far worse than the coronavirus can.” He listed a number of countries that already reopened schools and suggested that America can do so as well. Continue reading.

Senate GOP set to ramp up Obama-era probes

The Hill logoSenate Republicans are preparing to ramp up their Obama-era probes, pushing the controversial investigations back into the spotlight as the 2020 elections heat up.

The efforts have sparked high-profile tensions with Senate Democrats and public rebukes from former Vice President Joe Biden’s orbit. They view the efforts as an attempt to meddle in the 2020 elections, where Biden is the presumptive Democratic nominee.

But with the Senate coming back to Washington on Monday, and the number of legislative days quickly dwindling, Republicans are preparing to step up their efforts. Continue reading.

Senate Republicans may want out of this nightmare — but they have blood on their hands

AlterNet logoI’ll be the first one to admit that I was shocked on election night in 2016. As I told my friends in the lead-up to that fateful moment, I didn’t think that the country that elected Barack Obama would follow up by electing Donald Trump. Boy was I wrong! As a result, the hardest thing for me to deal with emotionally was the loss of faith in my fellow citizens.

Over the course of the next few years, we learned that one of the few things Trump said that wasn’t a lie was when he bragged that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue in broad daylight and his supporters wouldn’t abandon him. It has been mind-numbing to watch them stick with him no matter what he said or how badly he screwed things up.

But with all of the caveats about how the 2020 election is still a little more than three months away, it is looking increasingly possible that Trump will lose in a landslide. I tend to agree with David Atkins that the president wasn’t on a glide path to re-election prior to the coronavirus crisis. Biden had maintained the advantage all along. But with every day that passes, that lead has grown. So it would seem that ignoring a pandemic is obviously worse that shooting someone in broad daylight on Fifth Avenue, because at least some of Trump’s loyal supporters are starting to abandon him. Continue reading.

#EndorseThis: Lincoln Project Ad Slaps Cowardly GOP Senators

“Walk of Courage,” the latest ad from the Lincoln Project, smacks down Republican Senators who won’t stand up to Donald Trump (meaning all of them except Utah’s Mitt Romney).

In just 30 seconds, this tiny gem contrasts the cowardice of those politicians with the courage of the protesters who rose up after the murder of George Floyd. It shows Black Lives Matter protesters marching peacefully past a group of armed white men during a demonstration in Crown Point, Indiana — and a parade of GOP senators skulking silently past reporters asking them about President Donald Trump’s conduct.or’s

Don’t miss the smile flashed by a protester walking past the gun thugs. Just click.