Sunday shows preview: Congress inches toward stimulus package amid COVID-19 surge

Negotiations on a new coronavirus relief bill, the surge in coronavirus cases across the U.S. and COVID-19 vaccine distribution are expected to dominate this Sunday’s talk shows. 

Both congressional Democrats and Republicans have made headway this week in negotiations on a deal for another coronavirus relief bill amid pressure to release a new package by Christmas. 

On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of more than a dozen members from both the House and the Senate unveiled a $908 billion coronavirus relief proposal, which would provide another $160 billion for states and cities — a top priority for Democrats — $180 billion for unemployment insurance and $288 billion for more small business assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program.

Following the proposal’s release, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that they would accept the proposal as a starting point to negotiate. 

At the time of its release, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), one of the legislation’s authors, called on Congress to quickly pass the bill with a slew of assistance programs set to expire within weeks. 

“This is a COVID emergency relief framework,” Manchin said. “It’s not the time for political brinkmanship. … This is going to get us through the most difficult times.”

Manchin is set to appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. 

Among the group of lawmakers who backed the bill were Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), both of whom will make appearances on CNN’s “State of the Union” and “Fox News Sunday,” respectively. 

News on another stimulus bill comes as pharmaceutical companies developing coronavirus vaccine have applied for approval of their candidates for public distribution. 

Both Moderna and Pfizer have requested emergency authorizations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their respective COVID-19 vaccines. The FDA has scheduled a meeting for Dec. 10 to discuss Pfizer’s request for authorization and Moderna’s for a week later, with the possibility of authorization within days after the meetings. 

Head of the Trump administration’s vaccine effort, Moncef Slaoui, told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. is hoping to give a COVID-19 vaccine to 100 million people by the end of February. 

Slaoui, who is scheduled to appear on both CNN’s Sunday show and CBS’s “Face the Nation,” said that the predicted number of people represents all of the nation’s front line health workers, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions. 

In addition, Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House’s coronavirus task force, is expected to be on “Meet the Press” and “America This Week with Eric Bolling” on Sunday. 

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows: 

ABC’s “This Week” — Alex Azar, health and human services secretary; Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.). 

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Birx; Manchin; Gabriel Sterling, voting system implementation manager in the Georgia secretary of state’s office.

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Christopher Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; Dr. James Linder, CEO of Nebraska Medicine; Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot; Slauoi. 

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Slaoui; Warner; Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.); Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R-Ga.). 

“Fox News Sunday” — Azar; Cassidy; former CIA Director John Brennan.

Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — John Ratcliffe, Director of National Intelligence; Rudy Giuliani, attorney for President Trump and former New York City mayor; Ken Starr, Fox News contributor; Alan Dershowitz, constitutional legal scholar, Harvard Law Professor Emeritus. 

“America This Week with Eric Bolling” — Birx; Giuliani; K.T. McFarland, former deputy national security adviser; Brock Pierce, crypto-currency entrepreneur; Dan Lippman, Politico.