Senate GOP pitches smaller economic relief bill

WASHINGTON—Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill have battled over a coronavirus aid proposal for weeks after additional benefits to American workers expired. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday a new $500 billion package did not have all of his party’s preferred provisions but was more “targeted.” It includes an extra $300 per week for the unemployed, more than $100 billion for reopening schools, about $30 billion for a coronavirus vaccine, and other benefits for different sectors of the economy.

What will happen to this bill? The legislation needs 60 votes in the Senate to pass, which means the 53 Republicans in the upper chamber cannot do it alone. Senate Democrats most likely will vote against the proposal on Thursday, given that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has repeatedly asked for more than $2 trillion in aid. “Senate Republicans appear dead set on another bill which doesn’t come close to addressing the problems and is headed nowhere,” Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew on politicians’ efforts to prove their empathy to voters.