根据众议院民主党人正在制定的第五个冠状病毒救助方案，更多的钱可能会给美国人，该方案最早可能在下周获得众议院通过——不管有没有共和党人的支持。
但是，即使民主党领导的众议院选择向前推进，额外的救助——如果有的话——至少在几周内不会得到国会全体议员和唐纳德·特朗普总统的批准。最终的法案需要进行实质性的修改，以让共和党和白宫都参与进来。
“我们希望在两党的基础上继续前进，”众议院多数党领袖斯坦尼·霍耶(民主党)周三在电话会议上告诉记者。“但如果共和党人只是想在他们知道现在而不是以后有需要时暂停行动，我们将继续就我们的优先事项进行阐述和投票。”
民主党人希望在另一项法案中的一系列项目上获得更多资金，他们估计该法案的最高金额可能达到1万亿美元或更多:州和地方政府、联系人追踪、测试、租金和抵押贷款延期、美国邮政服务、食品券和邮件投票。
霍耶的办公室告诉记者，另一轮个人检查“可能是其中的一部分，[正在讨论中”新闻周刊。众议院议长南希·佩洛西的发言人对此表示赞同。一位熟悉的民主党消息人士表示，将会包括某种形式的现金支付，但类型和金额尚不清楚。
霍耶说，在该法案准备好投票表决之前，议员们不会被召回华盛顿特区，并且会提前24小时得到通知。
众议院民主党人也着眼于为小企业提供更多资金，这些企业获得了上个月又增加了3800亿美元在第一笔钱在两周内用完之后。他们还提议给留在前线的基本工人发放奖金，包括医院工作人员、卡车司机和杂货店店员。
(L-R)美国众议院多数党领袖众议员史丹尼·霍耶5月5日在DC首都华盛顿举行的宣誓就职仪式后对媒体发表讲话。
然而，自从大流行开始削弱美国经济以来，已经有近3万亿美元被拒之门外，共和党人仍然不愿意拿出更多。他们继续踩刹车，并呼吁在债务飙升的情况下暂停支出。共和党议员说，随着全国各州开始恢复营业，他们想首先检查哪里需要更多的援助。
共和党控制的参议院周一再次召开会议，但重点是确认行政和司法提名，并举行一些与冠状病毒相关的听证会。商会目前没有考虑任何与流行病相关的立法。
“[裔美国人]不寻求帮助。他们不是在寻找华盛顿的装饰。他们想做好自己的工作，他们想确保我们也做好自己的工作，”民主党领袖约翰·巴拉索参议员在会上说。“美国人正忙着回去工作。这是我们应该关注的地方。”
参议员罗伊·布朗特。)，也是领导成员，叮嘱新闻周刊尽管新一轮的检查并没有“被搁置”，但他们希望对两件事有更好的认识:“他们做了什么好事，以及他们在夏季的影响是否会像4月和5月一样。”
让谈判进一步复杂化的是，华盛顿的领导人各自在他们所说的必须包括的内容上划出了红线。对民主党人来说，这是州、地方和部落政府的5000亿美元的援助。对共和党人来说，这是对企业和员工的责任保护，在大流行期间重新开放，以防止“无聊”的诉讼。特朗普要求削减工资税。
然后，在这三个要求上似乎有无数的分歧。
包括共和党人在内的立法者不支持工资税的削减，这将忽略在健康危机中失去工作的3000多万人。参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(共和党)要求的责任保护。)是没有根据的，民主党人说，因为禁止对强迫雇员在不安全的条件下工作的雇主采取行动是不合理的。共和党人说，不应该给予更多的州和地方资金，而是应该放松对已经拨给这些政府的数千亿美元的限制，以便在如何使用这些资金方面有更多的酌处权。
此外，参议院共和党人在更多的州和地方援助上存在分歧。一些人指责前州领导对预算管理不善，并且——通常是不准确的——建议有民主党领导的州获得比他们贡献更多的联邦资金。
其他人对提供资金的想法更为开放，这些资金最终将流向急救人员等。
为了对抗共和党人的反对，犹他州参议员米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)周二在共和党午餐会上展示了一个海报板，题为“并非只有蓝色的州被搞砸了”据罗姆尼称，该报告使用穆迪分析公司的数据显示了因COVID-19导致的各州预算缺口。
在列出的21个州中——路易斯安那州、新泽西州、纽约州、密苏里州、佛罗里达州、堪萨斯州、肯塔基州、密歇根州、伊利诺伊州、罗德岛州、俄克拉荷马州、缅因州、西弗吉尼亚州、蒙大拿州、爱达荷州、南卡罗来纳州、弗吉尼亚州、阿肯色州、印第安纳州、亚利桑那州、密西西比州——有10个州有共和党州长。
尽管特朗普政府的高级官员，包括财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦，暗示将会有一个暂停，但特朗普已经发誓说更多的救助即将到来。
“还会有更多的帮助，”特朗普周日在福克斯新闻的市政厅说，但没有给出具体的时间表。“一定有。”
NEW CORONAVIRUS RELIEF BILL BY DEMOCRATS COULD MEAN MORE CASH FOR AMERICANS
More money for Americans may perhaps be on the way under a fifth coronavirus relief package House Democrats are crafting that could be passed by the chamber as early as next week—with or without Republican support.
But even if the Democratic-led chamber chooses to move ahead, additional relief—if any—is not expected to be approved by the full Congress and President Donald Trump for at least several weeks. And a final bill would need to be substantially altered to get Republicans and the White House on board.
"We want to proceed on a bipartisan basis," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters on a conference call Wednesday. "But if Republicans simply want to put action on hold when they know there's need now and not later, we will proceed to articulate and vote upon our priorities."
Democrats want more money for a range of items in another bill that they estimate could top out at $1 trillion or more: state and local governments, contact tracing, testing, rent and mortgage deferment, the U.S. Postal Service, food stamps and vote-by-mail.
Another round of individual checks "could be part of that and [is] being discussed," Hoyer's office told Newsweek. A spokesperson for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) concurred. A Democratic source familiar said some sort of cash payment will be included, though the type and amount was not yet known.
Members will not be recalled to Washington, D.C., from their districts until the legislation is ready to be voted on and will be provided more than 24 hours notice, Hoyer said.
House Democrats are also eyeing more money for small businesses, which received another $380 billion last month after the first tranche of money ran dry within just two weeks. They are also proposing bonus pay for essential workers who have remained on the frontlines, including hospital workers, truck drivers and grocery store clerks.
(L-R) U.S. House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) speaks to members of the press after a ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol May 5 in Washington, DC.
However, with nearly $3 trillion already out the door since the pandemic began to cripple the American economy, Republicans remain hesitate to dish out more. They continue to hit the brakes and are calling for a "pause" in spending amid skyrocketing debt. GOP lawmakers say they want to first examine where more aid is needed as states across the country begin to reopen for business.
The GOP-controlled Senate reconvened Monday but has focused on confirming executive and judicial nominees and holding some coronavirus-related hearings. The chamber is not currently considering any pandemic-related legislation.
"[Americans] are not looking for favors. They are not looking for frills from Washington. They want to do their jobs and they want to make sure we do ours as well," Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a member of leadership, said on the floor. "Americans are busy getting back to work. That's where our focus should be."
Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), also a leadership member, told Newsweek that while another round of checks was not "off the table," they want to have a better sense of two things: "What good they did and whether they'd have the same impact in the summer months as they had in April and May."
To further complicate negotiations, Washington's leaders have each drawn their own red lines in the sand over what they say must be included. For Democrats, it's state, local and tribal government aid to the tune of $500 billion. For Republicans, it's liability protections for businesses and employees that are reopening amid the pandemic to protect against "frivolous" lawsuits. Trump is demanding payroll tax cuts.
Then, there are what seem to be an endless number of disagreements on the three demands.
Lawmakers, including Republicans, don't support the payroll tax cuts, which would omit the more than 30 million people who've lost their jobs during the health crisis. Liability protections desired by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are unwarranted, Democrats said, because it would be unreasonable to prohibit action from being taken against an employer who forces their employees to work in unsafe conditions. And Republicans said instead of awarding more state and local funding, the restrictions on hundreds of billions of dollars already appropriated for those governments should be loosened so there's increased discretion on how the money can be spent.
Further, a division exists among Senate Republicans on more state and local aid. Some have pointed their fingers at previous state leadership for poorly managing the budget and have—often inaccurately—suggested states with Democratic leadership receive more federal dollars than they contribute.
Others are more open to the idea of providing the money, which would ultimately go to first responders, among others.
To combat his fellow Republicans' opposition, Senator Mitt Romney of Utah presented a poster board on Tuesday during a GOP lunch titled "Blue states aren't the only ones getting screwed." It showed the projected budget shortfalls of states due to COVID-19 using data from Moody Analytics, according to Romney.
Of the 21 states listed—Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Missouri, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Illinois, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Maine, West Virginia, Montana, Idaho, South Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Indiana, Arizona, Mississippi—10 of them have Republican governors.
Despite top officials in the Trump administration, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, suggesting there will be a pause, Trump has vowed that more relief is on the way.
"There is more help coming," Trump said Sunday during a Fox News town hall without naming a specific timeline. "There has to be."
