Business & Economy

On The Money: Republicans start bracing for shutdown fight in run-up to election | Mnuchin: White House seriously considering second round of stimulus checks | Labor leaders under pressure on police unions

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THE BIG DEAL—Republicans start bracing for shutdown fight in run-up to election: Senate Republicans are growing concerned that rising tensions between President Trump and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could lead to a shutdown fight just weeks before the election and threaten their slim majority in the chamber. 

GOP lawmakers say the last thing they need a few weeks before the Nov. 3 election is a spending standoff and possible government shutdown, especially with 23 Republican Senate seats up for reelection and only 12 Democratic seats at stake. The Hill’s Alexander Bolton has more here.

Spending bill logjam: 

The solution? Some Senate Republicans are discussing moving legislation that would prevent a government shutdown even if the annual appropriations bills haven’t been passed. 

LEADING THE DAY

Mnuchin: White House seriously considering second round of stimulus checks: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has signaled that the Trump administration is considering another round of stimulus checks as many Americans continue to feel the economic sting of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s something that we’re very seriously considering,” Mnuchin told the press Thursday, according to The Wall Street Journal. He said that a final decision would be coming on whether President Trump would push for the checks in Congress’s next stimulus package.

The initial round of stimulus checks was part of Congress’s $2 trillion-plus CARES Act passed in March. Qualifying American adults received a one-time payment of up tp $1,200, receiving an additional $500 for every dependent claimed under the age of 17.

Labor leaders under pressure to oust police unions: Labor leaders are coming under pressure from within their own ranks to sever ties with law enforcement groups amid the nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustices.

The effort to oust police unions took shape this week when a major writer’s union passed a resolution calling on the AFL-CIO to expel the International Union of Police Associations.

“There’s a debate that’s going on within labor and we’re trying to support the folks within labor that understand that police unions are not trying to protect the humanity and dignity of all people,” said Scott Roberts, senior director of criminal justice campaigns for Color Of Change.

The Hill’s Niv Elis has more here.

Historic allies now at odds: For decades, labor has largely been a bastion of support for Democrats. But that dynamic is now being tested.

Even so, some lawmakers don’t see labor confederations as the proper venue for police reform.

Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), a CBC member and former teachers union member, said she doesn’t think the Democrats’ new reform package waters down the power of police unions.

“I’m a union advocate. So, I know that the job of the union is to support the people who are members of their union — that’s the teachers, the firefighters, the police. And I’m sensitive. I’m a union lady. I’m a teacher by trade. I’m a family or teachers, and so we have a different perspective of unions,” Wilson told The Hill.

COVID-19 spikes, but most governors signal they’re staying the course: The coronavirus is spiking across more than a dozen states, but many governors are signaling they have no interest in bringing back restrictive stay-at-home orders almost regardless of what happens.

“Once you see cases rise, it’s too late. [A rising] number of cases signifies a spread that’s already happened,” said Jen Kates, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The Hill’s Reid Wilson explains here.

 

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