Pelosi Passes On Bipartisanship: Covid Relief Still Being Held Up By Uncompromising Speaker

“Congress has two critical items to tackle this week: funding the government and delivering crucial COVID relief to families, workers, and businesses across the country,” the statement read. “It is time for Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and House to find consensus on COVID relief before the holidays. We hope our Democrat counterparts share our sense of urgency.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin by phone Monday evening and proceeded to press for relief for striving states and regions. But top Democrats came out in support of a $748 billion plan offered by a bipartisan group of legislators and hinted they will not maintain a pitched battle for state and local aid now.

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A bipartisan group of lawmakers revealed a comprehensive aid offer in beliefs it would serve as a model for their batting leaders to follow as they try to settle a final agreement.

The bipartisan group on Monday renewed a push for their $908 billion COVID-19 relief package and urged the House and Senate to break a months-long impasse by considering their package in two chunks — neither of which contain stimulus checks.

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The bipartisan group includes four Republican senators and urged votes on a $748 billion package of widely supported items such as small business loans, followed by a separate vote on more contentious details.

But the group was inadequate to craft an arrangement on GOP-sought plans shielding businesses from COVID-related lawsuits, a key priority of McConnell and other Republicans.

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Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) joined the bipartisan group for an afternoon press conference that re-iterated the details of their $908 billion proposals.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said, “It would be Scrooge-like if we went away and left folks the day after Christmas to lose their unemployment, or the day after New Year’s to lose their apartment.”

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Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), another member of the bipartisan group, said it made sense to part off the more controversial details, noting that among Republicans “there’s a strong feeling we don’t want to be paying for pensions that states may need to fill” in Democratic areas.

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Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, said some Democrats aren’t budging on the aid over the lawsuit provision.

“I talked with the [White House] chief of staff [Mark Meadows] about it this morning. He said Nancy Pelosi is unfortunately putting the interest of trial lawyers first. These trial lawyers are the ones who are going to go after small businesses. That’s the last thing they need as they are trying to weather COVID, is all of this liability on their hands,” McEnany added.