Pressure is mounting on Republican and Democratic negotiators in the US Capitol to reach an agreement on a COVID-19 response package that can pass both chambers of a divided Congress and be signed into law by President Donald Trump in the coming days. But evidence persists that the March 27 enactment of the massive CARES … Continue Reading
Bipartisan talks in Washington continue with the aim of producing a significant COVID-19 response and economic “stimulus” measure that can be signed into law by President Donald Trump this summer. Republicans and Democrats remain far apart in the negotiations, according to sources on both sides of the talks. But discussions continue as pressure mounts on … Continue Reading
Bipartisan negotiations aimed at producing the next major federal COVID-19 response legislation – delayed by more than a week of infighting between congressional Republicans and the White House – are finally underway. The baseline for the talks: HEROES vs. HEALS, pitting the US$3.5 trillion HEROES Act passed by the US House of Representatives in May … Continue Reading
The enhanced unemployment benefits created by the March 27 CARES Act are set to expire in eight days. The US Congress will need more time than that to determine a path to passage of the next major bipartisan pandemic response legislation – assuming Republicans and Democrats in Washington are able to eventually reach agreement on … Continue Reading
An extension of the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) authored by a Democratic member of the US Senate is on its way to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law. The US House of Representatives has approved a US$1.5 trillion national infrastructure bill loaded with Democratic priorities for climate change, clean energy … Continue Reading
The COVID-19 pandemic has reclaimed headlines in America as new cases spike in states that some national health authorities say reopened their economies too swiftly. The US House of Representatives and US Senate are both in legislative session this week in advance of the Independence Day work period, but bipartisan talks to hammer out the … Continue Reading
With the House of Representatives and Senate deadlocked over competing versions of police reform legislation, a divided Washington has failed, at least for the moment, to heed the national call for action on racial injustices that emerged from the killing of citizen George Floyd. The division could portend failure ahead on other urgent matters of … Continue Reading
Five weeks after passing the US$3 trillion HEROES Act, House Democrats are moving to pass a companion measure, the Moving Forward Act, that would add another US$1.5 trillion by funding an array of national infrastructure projects and related Democratic priorities. The bill is expected to be taken up on the House floor prior to Independence … Continue Reading
As public protests against police brutality and racial disparity continued to dominate the national policy debate, pushing coronavirus-related news from the front pages, the US Senate has given its approval to legislation passed last week by the US House of Representatives making changes to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) created by the March 27 Coronavirus … Continue Reading
