In an interview today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that a deal will have to be struck within 48 hours in order to get relief to Americans before election day.
This is a bit of an odd statement because experts have already came out and said that October 15 would have been the deadline for getting stimulus checks out before the election.
It’s possible that Pelosi knows something that these experts don’t know regarding the potential distribution of more stimulus checks and other forms of relief but it seems like the ship has already sailed regarding aid getting to Americans.
(It’s possible she was not talking about stimulus checks but I’m pretty sure she was.)
It’s also really odd that Pelosi would be signaling as if she wants aid to go out before the election considering all of her statements about being worried about it affecting the election odds of Trump.
Her statement almost feels like some weird reverse psychology trick but I will give her the benefit of the doubt.
Nancy Pelosi also said that she is at an “impasse” with the White House over the next stimulus package.
Shocker, I know.
“We don’t have agreement on the language yet,” Pelosi said.
According to the New York Times, the controversy regarding the language revolves around testing requirements and contract tracing for coronavirus infections as well as making sure that the bill addresses“disproportionate impact on communities of color.”
As these negotiations continue to move slower than a snail’s pace, the Senate is set to introduce a new bill and take a vote on it this week for the $500 billion skinny stimulus package.
We just had it confirmed that the skinny stimulus package will not include stimulus checks even though earlier there was some talk about them being included.
The vote for the package was initially set for Monday but it looks like it now might be pushed to Wednesday of next week.
In addition to funding for the Paycheck Protection Program the bill also has funds for schools, and expanded unemployment benefits.
“Nobody thinks this $500B+ proposal would resolve every problem forever,” McConnell said in a Saturday statement.
“It would deliver huge amounts of additional help to workers and families right now while Washington keeps arguing over the rest.”
As I’ve mentioned before the skinny bill stands little to no chance of actually becoming law so the vote and proposal is largely symbolic.
It would be amazing for lawmakers to arrive at an agreement in the next 48 hours but I have serious doubts that that will happen and even if it did, I’m not even sure aid would be received before election day.
Related
Why Republicans may in fact support a large stimulus package
Senate to vote on stimulus package on Monday
Could checks go out before the election?
Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo. He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio.
