Trump just upended a massive coronavirus package negotiated by his own administration

Pelosi and Mnuchin are still negotiating, but getting a bipartisan coronavirus package passed is looking less certain.

As of Thursday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was ready to announce she was close to a deal with the White House on a coronavirus relief package after a full day of negotiating with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. But late Friday afternoon, the status of that deal is up in the air.

President Donald Trump publicly shot down the House bill at a Friday Rose Garden press conference, around the same time Pelosi and Mnuchin were speaking on their 10th phone call of the day.

“We don’t think the Democrats are giving enough,” Trump said. “We’re negotiating, we thought we had something. But all of a sudden they didn’t agree to certain things they agreed to, so we could have something but we don’t think they’re giving enough.”

The House is still expected to vote on a multibillion-dollar coronavirus relief package Friday and send it over to the Senate. (The upper chamber has canceled its planned recess to take up the coronavirus relief bill on Monday.)

House Republicans were looking to Trump to give them the green light to vote for the bill — and they didn’t get that. Pelosi and Democrats still have enough votes to pass the bill on their own. But if the vote is not bipartisan and Trump doesn’t support it, Senate Republicans are unlikely to support the bill.

Billions of dollars in coronavirus relief funding hang in the balance. But unless a last-minute deal is struck, Trump could put Congress back to square one.

Pelosi indicated earlier Friday the House would soon begin work on a “third emergency response package” in a letter to her House colleagues. Congress already passed an $8.3 billion aid package last week to help fund research and vaccine development.

For the package under consideration today, Pelosi’s focus is on expanding paid sick leave and family leave to Americans impacted by Covid-19, as well as ensuring free coronavirus testing.

“It’s about paid sick leave. It’s about family medical leave. It’s about unemployment insurance,” Pelosi added, emphasizing the Democratic priorities in the bill. “It’s about feeding … our children who are out of school and need to be fed. It’s about seniors and people with disabilities.”

Despite Senate and House Republicans balking at some of the proposals in Democrats’ first draft of their bill, and despite President Donald Trump using Twitter Friday morning to lobby for his desired payroll tax cut, Mnuchin sounded optimistic in a CNBC interview Friday morning.

“I think we’re very close to getting this done,” Mnuchin said. “The president is absolutely committed that this will be an entire government effort, that we will be working with the House and Senate.”

Pelosi had also sounded optimistic that she and the administration had “resolved most of our differences” Thursday night. By Friday afternoon, Pelosi and her top lieutenants were making it clear they were ready to proceed — with or without Republicans.

“She and I are both working to come to a bipartisan agreement,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told House Democrats in a letter. “If we reach agreement, we’ll vote on it. If not, we will vote today on our bill, which incorporates nearly all of what the Administration and Republicans have requested.”

Once again, Trump has upended his own administration’s negotiations with Democrats. This time, it is happening during a national public health emergency.

What’s in the House coronavirus relief package

House Democrats’ opening bid was an expansive relief package, which Republicans objected to over two provisions: paid sick leave and paid leave.

Democrats had initially included a provision establishing a permanent paid leave program in case of public health emergencies, that would have required businesses to offer 14 days of paid leave to their workers (the provision also would have provided a refundable tax credit for small businesses to assist with costs). Democrats also wanted to create a permanent paid sick leave program, which Republicans wanted to be temporary to deal with the current coronavirus emergency.

“There are things in there that had nothing to do of what we are talking about,” Trump said Thursday. “It is not a way for them to get some of the goodies they haven’t been able to get for the last 25 years.”

Trump appeared to still be fixated on the idea of a payroll tax cut on Friday — something he has been floating for the past week. Democrats objected because the payroll tax cut would likely benefit only companies and a subset of workers, and would not help those already laid off due to the coronavirus and its economic impact. A senior House Democrat called the idea a “nonstarter,” and even members of Trump’s party expressed skepticism that a payroll tax cut would be effective.

Here’s are the main provisions of the House relief package thus far. These will be updated once the latest bill text is released.

• Emergency paid sick days: The bill would require all employers to accrue seven days of paid sick leave and provide an additional 14 days to be available immediately during the coronavirus (many employers are asking employees to work from home for that amount of time). It ensures sick leave to those impacted by quarantine orders, or those who must stay home to care for their children. The bill reimburses small businesses (those with 50 or fewer employees) for the cost of the 14 additional days of leave.
• Emergency paid leave: The bill would create a new federal emergency paid leave program for those unable to work because they have Covid-19, are quarantined, are caring for someone with the disease, or are caring for a child due to coronavirus-related school closings. Eligible workers would receive benefits for a month (the program goes up to three months), and the benefit amount would be two-thirds of the individual’s average monthly earnings. Those receiving pay or unemployment compensation directly through their employers aren’t eligible. There is some precedent for this: Congress expanded unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks for Americans left unemployed by the 2008 financial crisis.
• Expanded unemployment insurance: The bill would direct $2 billion to state unemployment insurance programs and waive measures like work search requirements or waiting weeks to those either diagnosed with Covid-19, or those who have lost their jobs due to the spread of the virus.
• Expanding food security: The bill would direct $1 billion to expanding access to programs like WIC and the emergency food assistance program throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Progressive economists have long believed that expanding existing safety net programs is a highly effective way of stimulating the economy because the low-income people who benefit from them are highly likely to immediately spend any extra money they get — helping stabilize economy-wide demand. The 2009 stimulus bill featured many provisions along these lines. Conservatives, who are critical of those programs in general, tend to be highly skeptical of putting more money into them.
• Free coronavirus testing: Democratic leaders propose making coronavirus testing free to increase access by requiring private health insurers (plus government programs like Medicare and Medicaid) to cover the cost of testing, including emergency room visits and doctor fees. Free testing is being offered in a number of states, but there’s no federal regulation mandating it so far.
• Increasing the capacity of the US medical system and ensuring affordable treatment: The bill also calls on insurance providers to reimburse coronavirus patients for any non-covered costs related to Covid-19. Again, they’re hoping this gets more people treated and makes it so people don’t put off going to the doctor because they are worried about costs.

Timeline and what could come next

As Pelosi continues to negotiate and the House preparing to pass the bill Friday afternoon, the Senate has left Capitol Hill for the weekend. That means the full Congress won’t pass this bill until Monday at the earliest, unless Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell calls senators back early.

On Thursday, McConnell canceled a previously scheduled Senate recess slated for next week to vote on the bill. But time is of the essence with a rapidly spreading virus, especially since this bill deals with things like free coronavirus testing. Public health officials fear even a few days of delay could hurt the country’s overall response.

If House Republicans don’t support the bill, that could mean Senate Republicans would likely have to go back to the drawing board and draft a more narrow version of the House’s legislation.

Even after this bill is passed, Congress’s response to the coronavirus is far from over. In her remarks to reporters and her letter to House members, Pelosi mentioned there would be future bills to help combat the crisis.

These could be more economic stimulus measures targeted toward industries hit hard by the coronavirus, including the travel and airline industries, Mnuchin said during his CNBC interview. The White House is also considering temporarily suspending student loan payments for three months, Mnuchin added.

“That’s on our list of 50 different items we’re bringing to the president for a decision, so that will be something we’re looking at,” Mnuchin said.

Note: This is a developing story, and will be updated as new details become available.