Senate continues negotiations over coronavirus stimulus bill ahead of expected vote
Larry Kudlow provides latest details on plans to support American workers amid coronavirus outbreak
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow joins Sean Hannity on ‘Hannity.’
The Senate is expected to vote on the massive, more than $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package by Monday, but lawmakers on Capitol Hill and Trump administration officials are still negotiating provisions.
Fox News has learned that some of the text from phase three of the coronavirus economic relief package could emerge late Saturday, but not the legislation in its entirety. Sources told Fox News that text of the legislation could continue to drift out on Sunday, even beyond the slated afternoon vote.
WHITE HOUSE SAYS STIMULUS PACKAGE WILL BE $1.4T
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., adjourned the Senate Saturday afternoon until Sunday, when he plans to hold a cloture vote. McConnell hoped that vote would take place Sunday afternoon around 3:00 p.m. ET.
The vote is procedural and would advance the “shell” of the legislation, giving McConnell time to update the bill text until the final vote on the stimulus package, which could take place as early as Monday.
White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow said that the stimulus package would total between $1.3 and $1.4 trillion before leverage from the Federal Reserve for loan guarantees.
“We’re about $1.3 to $1.4 trillion programmatically, not including the leverage from the Fed,” Kudlow said Saturday. “We will generate some loan guarantee facilities from the Fed.”
Kudlow explained that those loan guarantees are capitalized in the Exchange Stabilization Fund which is owned and run by the Treasury Department.
“We’ll probably seek additional authorization for that,” Kudlow said, without providing a concrete figure. “It’s not a controversial point, but it’s something that both sides agree on because it’s going to help out some distressed areas…airplanes are one of them.”
Negotiations between Senate Republicans and Democrats and members of the White House economic team continued through the day Saturday.
Senators met in breakout groups in the morning, and held policy lunches throughout the afternoon to meet the new McConnell-imposed 5:00 p.m. ET deadline.
Fox News has learned that senators have had trouble reaching a deal–largely due to back-and-forth between Republican and Democrat-proposed provisions.
«Democrats generally have been pushing things,» Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. «We’ve had several sorts of interim recesses here, where they throw something out and we talk about it, or they have to go back and talk to their people.»
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Saturday that he had a “very good, very detailed” call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Saturday morning.
“We are making very good progress,” Schumer said Saturday.
Schumer said Saturday there are still a number of priorities they have that they are continuing to fight for, including providing «a massive infusion of resources to our hospitals, our medical facilities, and our other public health infrastructure.” Schumer also said that the package needs to «put workers first.”
«That means a dramatic expansion and reform of unemployment insurance; we need unemployment insurance on steroids,» he said. «Some are calling it ‘employment insurance.’ It must be easier to access. It must cover many more Americans during this crisis, including Americans who have non-traditional employment. And it must provide more generous benefits. Workers who are laid off should receive a paycheck equal to what they were receiving while employed. Workers must be protected whether they work for businesses small, medium or large.”
Schumer and some top Senate Democrats have also proposed including additional $200 per month of Social Security benefits for recipients, as well as to suspend all student loan payments throughout the entirety of the national emergency.
President Trump, on Friday, announced that he would suspend all federal student loan payments, penalty and interest free, for “at least the next 60 days.”
Despite the disagreements from GOP senators, Schumer said Senate Democrats are «eager» to work on a bipartisan basis to pass the stimulus.
«We are all eager to come to a bipartisan agreement as soon as humanly possible,» Schumer said Saturday.
The current draft legislation, rolled out by the Senate GOP and obtained by Fox News on Thursday, would provide payments of up to $1,200 per person. They would be phased down at adjusted gross income thresholds of $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 per couple. Additionally, there would be $500 payments for each child.
The amount, though, is slated to then be reduced by $5 for each $100 a taxpayer’s income exceeds the legislation’s threshold. The amount is reduced to zero for single taxpayers with incomes exceeding $99,000 and $198,000 for joint filers.
The legislation also outlined $300 billion for small businesses to keep furloughed and laid-off workers on the payroll and $208 billion in loans to airlines and other industries.
Some Republicans have objected to certain measures outlined in the bill, and most Democrats, including Schumer, have sounded the alarm saying the measure does not go far enough in protecting American families, and is too focused on corporations.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced an amendment to McConnell’s plan on Saturday, which aimed to expand relief for low-income and middle-income Americans. Hawley’s plan lowers the threshold for Americans to qualify for the $1,200 relief. In order to qualify, under his amendment, an individual must be a U.S. citizen with a Social Security number.
Under McConnell’s plan, an individual must file taxes and have an income greater than $0 in order to qualify, which Hawley says leaves behind Americans who are disabled, or living in public housing that don’t file taxes due to not having any true income of their own.
“During this emergency our focus should be on helping every American who needs it, including especially our most vulnerable citizens,» Hawley said in a statement to Fox News. «Excluding or penalizing families with lower incomes doesn’t make sense. Congress should prioritize lower-income and middle-class families through this crisis.”
Meanwhile, White House Legislative Affairs Director Eric Ueland declined to share specific details Saturday on whether all GOP senators were on board with the ongoing discussions over the stimulus package.
«I think given the magnitude of the crisis that we face, and the significant need for action, it’s pretty obvious to any senator that stepping forward and getting in the way carries with it a significant risk of affecting the market and threatening the ability of the American people to receive the relief that we need,» Ueland told reporters on Capitol Hill Saturday.
Trump, on Wednesday, signed the second coronavirus relief bill into law that provides paid sick leave, unemployment help and free testing to Americans.
The legislation provides 14 days of paid sick days to workers affected by the coronavirus, ensures free testing to everyone, including the uninsured, and expands food aid and boosts unemployment dollars to states.
The House and Senate already passed a bipartisan $8.3 billion package to prop up the health care system to prepare for the influx of sick Americans. The second response bill that was signed into law Wednesday aims to bring relief to workers who lost their jobs and families at home for illnesses, quarantines or caring for kids whose schools have shuttered.
Meanwhile, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Mnuchin announced Friday that, at the direction of the president, he had postponed the tax filing day from April 15 to July 15.
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As of Saturday midday, the U.S. had more than 24,148 confirmed cases of coronavirus in all 50 states, including Washington, D.C. The U.S., so far, has seen 285 COVID-19-related deaths.
Fox News’ Carolina McKee, Chad Pergram and Sally Persons contributed to this report, as well as The Associated Press.
