House, Senate on collision course over coronavirus response

WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders on Monday outlined vastly different priorities for the things they want to put into the next coronavirus bill when they return next week, with Democrats seeking more wage protections for workers and Republicans aiming to insulate companies from employee lawsuits.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., released a statement confirming his intention to bring the Senate back into session May 4, and said one priority would be "strong protections from opportunistic lawsuits" for healthcare workers and businesses.

"We cannot get distracted by pre-existing partisan wish-lists or calls to paper over decades of reckless decisions that had nothing to do with COVID-19," McConnell said, in apparent reference to House Democrats' plans to advance a massive new coronavirus rescue bill that would include a number of liberal priorities along with generous aid to prop up state budgets.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told Democrats on a conference call that the House, too, would be reconvening on Monday. Earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said that Congress might need to consider offering a guaranteed income to some Americans to help the country recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We may have to think in terms of some different ways to put money in people's pockets," Pelosi said on MSNBC. "Others have suggested a minimum income, a guaranteed income for people. Is that worthy of attention now? Perhaps so."

A number of Democrats in the House and Senate have advanced proposals that would ensure a guaranteed paycheck for workers impacted by the coronavirus. These include a plan by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., co-chair of the Progressive Caucus, that would create a three-month federal guarantee for 100 percent of worker salaries of up to $100,000. Pelosi's comments suggested she was open to such an approach.

McConnell's statement, by contrast, appeared to endorse some type of a "liability shield" that would prevent businesses from being sued by customers who contract the coronavirus, an idea that has been under consideration at the White House.

"Before we start sending additional money down to states and localities, I want to make sure we protect the people we've already sent assistance to who are going to be set up for an avalanche of lawsuits if we don't act," McConnell said in an interview later with conservative radio host Guy Benson.

"There probably will be another state and local funding bill, but we need to make sure that we achieve something that will go beyond simply sending out money," McConnell said. He said the country is going to be afraid to open up if businesses are afraid they'll be sued.

The comments from McConnell and Pelosi put the two parties on a collision course over their next steps to deal with the pandemic, setting up an ideological and partisan clash over the federal government's next steps as the nation's economy reels heading into the election.

Congress has managed to overcome its partisan divides to pass four bipartisan rescue bills since early March, committing nearly $3 trillion to battling the coronavirus thus far. That includes legislation passed last week that spent nearly $500 billion to replenish a small business lending program and devote money to hospitals and testing.

But lawmakers in both parties anticipate that reaching agreement on the next bill will be much harder, as Democrats push for even more aggressive spending while McConnell has said repeatedly he wants to push the "pause button" on any more big spending bills for now.

The House will also begin oversight hearings on the coronavirus response, with committees meeting throughout the week in staggered fashion to create social distancing, Hoyer said.

House Democrats anticipate their next rescue bill will rival in size and scope the $2 trillion Cares Act Congress passed in late March. They want to boost aid for cities and states, increase funding for nutrition assistance and raise financial support for individual Americans. Democrats are also weighing multiple other items, including direct assistance for housing, money for election security and vote-by-mail initiatives, hazard pay for front-line workers, child-care assistance, and more money for health providers and hospitals.

Political leaders are hunting for ways to address the economic fallout after more than 26 million Americans have filed unemployment claims in less than two months. The unemployment rate in February was 3.5%, but it is believed to have skyrocketed to close to 20% in April, and state unemployment assistance programs are overwhelmed.

Pelosi offered no specifics during her MSNBC interview of how a guaranteed income program might work. Congressional Democrats have also discussed sending a second round of direct checks to Americans to build on the $1,200 payments that are being sent out under the Cares Act.

Pelosi also advocated extending the period of loans available under the small-business initiative, known as the Paycheck Protection Program, to longer than the two months in law. She also suggested that the small-business program could be expanded to businesses with 1,000 employees instead of the current 500.

"I think we should extend the time, I really do," she said, acknowledging that the financial challenges of businesses could extend well beyond a two-month window.

"If they are not being able to get the same kind of small-business loan, perhaps in some cases, again as you said, we have to extend the time, but in some cases, we have to also perhaps expand it to a thousand people rather than just 500," Pelosi said.

Pelosi's comments indicate the fluid and wide-ranging debate underway as House Democrats draft their next response bill. The centerpiece of the legislation is expected to be a massive infusion of cash to stabilize state and local budgets, which Pelosi has suggested could be around $700 billion.

The debate is taking shape with many House Democrats eager to take a greater role in shaping the federal response to the pandemic. But Democrats' push for another big bill that would answer governors' call for money to prop up their battered budgets is running into growing resistance from McConnell and other Republicans who say it's not their job to help out states that were mismanaged long before the coronavirus surfaced.

President Donald Trump has indicated growing sympathy toward that viewpoint, writing Monday on Twitter: "Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states (like Illinois, as example) and cities, in all cases Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help? I am open to discussing anything, but just asking?"

Despite some divisions among Senate Republicans, including some who have indicated support for sending money to states or bolstering worker paychecks, McConnell's statement Monday mentioned only one specific proposal Senate Republicans would take on after coming back into session next week: the idea of shielding employers and health care workers from litigation.

"Republicans will proudly insist on these and other strong, pro-certainty, pro-growth reforms throughout any and all future discussions," McConnell said. "The American people do not need tangential left-wing daydreams. They need commonsense steps that move us toward the response, recovery, and future readiness that Americans need and deserve."

The bill Congress passed last week devoted an additional $310 billion to the small business Paycheck Protection Program. But that money is already in huge demand and could run out by next week.