Democratic leaders want next coronavirus relief bill wrapped up by July 31

House Democratic leaders are pushing hard to finalize an agreement on the next multitrillion-dollar package of coronavirus relief to wrap up the process before Aug. 1.

“I’m hoping for the end of the month,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters Tuesday morning in the Capitol.

They have plenty of work to do to meet that deadline.

In May, House Democrats had passed a $3.4 trillion package, the HEROES Act, that largely extended or replenished emergency aid provided by Congress in the two months previous. It includes hundreds of billions of dollars for unemployment insurance, direct payments to individuals, medical supplies, coronavirus testing and funds to prop up embattled state and local governments.

Senate Republicans have rejected both the size of the Democrats’ proposal, and a number of the policy prescriptions contained within it.

But with some of the emergency funding set to expire within days, including the unemployment insurance benefits, Democrats maintain there’s no time to dally.

“We need to address this issue with the fierce urgency of now, which based off the legislative calendar means finishing it by July 31,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Democrat Caucus. “The American people need a meaningful and transformative intervention so we can turn this around.”

Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) are set to meet Monday afternoon with a pair of top administration officials — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — to launch the negotiations formally.

Republicans in the Senate and White House are pushing a much smaller relief bill — in the range of $1 trillion — as their opening bid. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) took to the chamber floor Tuesday morning to outline the major provisions in the Republicans’ proposal, including new help for small businesses, more than $100 billion to help schools reopen safely, and another round of stimulus checks for individuals and families.

“The American job market needs another shot of adrenaline,” he said.

McConnell did not mention a favored policy of President Trump — a payroll-tax cut — which White House leaders had touted as a central element of the package just a day earlier.

The $1 trillion figure is a non-starter for Democrats, who say it’s woefully insufficient to address the dual crises of the fast-spreading pandemic and the economic devastation it has caused.

Democrats are also lining up in opposition to the payroll tax cut, if it does appear in the Republicans’ bill, noting that it would do nothing to help the millions of recently unemployed people who aren’t on any payrolls.

“There’s no evidence that it’s an appropriate intervention,” said Jeffries.

With the sides still far apart, McConnell has suggested the negotiations will bleed into the first week of August, when the Senate — but not the House — is already scheduled to be in session.

House Democrats are already bracing for that possibility.

In a letter to colleagues last week, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the House is prepared to vote on an agreement — whenever it arrives.

“[T]he House will return, if needed, to do its job whenever required to help Americans get through this crisis,” Hoyer wrote.