WASHINGTON (AP) — Slow, grinding negotiations on a huge COVID-19 relief bill are set to resume, but the path forward promises to be challenging. Both the Trump administration negotiating team and top Capitol Hill Democrats reported progress over the weekend even as they highlighted their differences.
Ahead of Monday's talks, all sides predict a long slog ahead despite the lapse of a $600-per-week supplemental COVID-19 jobless benefit, the beginning of school season and the call of lawmakers' cherished August recess. Several more days of talks are expected, if not more.
The White House is seeking opportunities to boost President Donald Trump, like another round of $1,200 stimulus payments and extending the supplemental jobless benefit and partial eviction ban. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democratic negotiator, appears intent on an agreement as well, but she's made it clear she needs big money for state and local governments, unemployment benefits and food aid.
21PHOTOS
Coronavirus epicenter in Miami
See Gallery
Coronavirus epicenter in Miami
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JULY 27: Vice President Mike Pence takes off his mask before speaking during a press conference at the the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine on July 27, 2020 in Miami, Florida. The Vice President participated in a roundtable with university leadership and researchers on the progress of a Coronavirus vaccine. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Cars line up for Covid-19 test at a "walk-in" and "drive-through" coronavirus testing site in Miami Beach, Florida on July 22, 2020. - The United States on July 21 recorded 68,524 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University reported in its real-time tally. The United States has seen a resurgence of cases, particularly in the so-called Sun Belt, stretching across the south from Florida to California. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
People relax on the beach in Miami Beach, Florida on July 28, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
A couple eat dinner at a restaurant in Miami Beach, Florida on July 28, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
A group of men play music on the beach in Miami Beach, Florida on July 28, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JULY 27: An exterior view of Don Soffer Clinical Research Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine on July 27, 2020 in Miami, Florida. Phase III trials for a COVID-19 vaccine are scheduled to begin at the research center. (Photo by Johnny Louis/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JULY 27: An aerial drone view of Marlins Park on July 27, 2020 in Miami, Florida. The Miami Marlins' home opener against the Baltimore Orioles was postponed after a number of players tested positive for COVID-19. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
A man walks past the Aardvark Mobile Health's Mobile Covid-19 Testing Truck in Miami Beach, on July 24, 2020. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
Nurse practitioner Raciel Gomez (L) swabs the nose of Jeewan Prabha Mehta through a glass pane at the Aardvark Mobile Health's Mobile Covid-19 Testing Truck in Miami Beach, on July 24, 2020. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
Medical staff look at a form at the Aardvark Mobile Health's Mobile Covid-19 Testing Truck in Miami Beach, on July 24, 2020. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JULY 24: Dr. Rubin Vercus prepares to place a box of food and a gallon of milk in the back of a vehicle at drive-thru food distribution site set up at the First Church of the Brethren on July 24, 2020 in Miami, Florida. 500 boxes of food were donated by Farm Share for those in need to help people trying to make ends meet during the pandemic. The United States economic recovery is showing signs of weakness as a renewed outbreak of COVID-19 has caused some business owners to lay employees off again, four months after the initial outbreak of coronavirus in March. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JULY 24: Dr. Rubin Vercus places a box of food and a gallon of milk in the back of a vehicle at a drive-thru food distribution site set up at the First Church of the Brethren on July 24, 2020 in Miami, Florida. 500 boxes of food were donated by Farm Share for those in need to help people trying to make ends meet during the pandemic. The United States economic recovery is showing signs of weakness as a renewed outbreak of COVID-19 has caused some business owners to lay employees off again, four months after the initial outbreak of coronavirus in March. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Narendra Mehta (C) completes a form for testing at the Aardvark Mobile Health's Mobile Covid-19 Testing Truck in Miami Beach, on July 24, 2020. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
FLORIDA, USA - JULY 24: A healthcare worker collects samples using a nasal swab at a mobile COVID-19 testing facility, in Miami Beach, Florida, United States on July 24, 2020. (Photo by MARCO BELLO/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Florida, Miami Beach, Covid 19, mobile testing facility, FDEM Division of Emergency Management with long lines. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, the U.S. Surgeon General, with health workers Gabriel Appoh, left, and Varaiaia Barkus at the COVID-19 drive-thru testing center at Miami-Dade County Auditorium in Miami on Thursday, July 23, 2020. (David Santiago/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JULY 23: Health care workers direct people to use a nasal swab for a self administered test at the new federally funded COVID-19 testing site at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium on July 23, 2020 in Miami, Florida. Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, the U.S. Surgeon General, visited the site, as the state of Florida experiences a spike in coronavirus cases, to encourage people to wear a mask and take other precautions to fight the pandemic. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JULY 23: A health care worker directs a person to use a nasal swab for a self administered test at the new federally funded COVID-19 testing site at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium on July 23, 2020 in Miami, Florida. Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, the U.S. Surgeon General, visited the site, as the state of Florida experiences a spike in coronavirus cases, to encourage people to wear a mask and take other precautions to fight the pandemic. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Cars line up for Covid-19 test at a "walk-in" and "drive-through" coronavirus testing site in Miami Beach, Florida on July 22, 2020. - The United States on July 21 recorded 68,524 new coronavirus cases in the previous 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University reported in its real-time tally. The United States has seen a resurgence of cases, particularly in the so-called Sun Belt, stretching across the south from Florida to California. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
MIAMI LAKES, FLORIDA - JULY 22: Dr. Jacqueline Delmont, Chief Medical Officer of SOMOS Community Care, uses a nasal swab to test Eddie Mena for COVID-19 in a medical tent at a testing site locate at the Miami Lakes Youth Center on July 22, 2020 in Miami Lakes, Florida. Testing is being provided by doctors from New York City associated with SOMOS Community Care, as the state of Florida experiences a surge in coronavirus cases. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA - JULY 20: A man is seen putting away a sign away infront of a closed restaurant on Ocean Drive in the entertainment district of Miami Beach after Miami Dade County imposed a daily 8 p.m. to 6 a.m curfew, on July 20, 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida. The City of Miami Beach put the curfew back into place to fight the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), which has spiked in recent days after the Phase 1 reopening of businesses. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis refused calls to impose a statewide face mask mandate despite the record numbers of coronavirus cases and deaths in the state in recent days. (Photo by Johnny Louis/Getty Images)
Up Next
See Gallery
Discover More Like This
HIDE CAPTION
SHOW CAPTION
of
SEE ALL
BACK TO SLIDE
Appearances by the principal negotiators on Sunday's news shows featured continued political shots by White House chief of staff Mark Meadows at Pelosi for turning down a one-week extension of the $600 benefit in talks last week.
Meadows, however, is understaffed during the talks and seems to struggle with his read on Pelosi. He spent much of his time on CBS' “Face The Nation” attacking her for opposing a piecemeal approach that would revive jobless benefits immediately but leave other items like food stamps and aid to states for later legislation. She is insisting on a complete package.
Areas of agreement already include the $1,200 direct payment and changes to the Paycheck Protection Program to permit especially hard-hit businesses to obtain another loan under generous forgiveness terms.
But the terms and structure of the unemployment benefit remains a huge sticking point, negotiators said Sunday, and Meadows hasn't made any concessions on the almost $1 trillion Pelosi wants for state and local governments grappling with pandemic-related revenue losses.
“We still have a long ways to go,” Meadows said, adding, “I’m not optimistic that there will be a solution in the very near term."
Pelosi said she'd consider reducing the $600 benefit for states with lower unemployment rates. Republicans want to cut the benefit to encourage beneficiaries to return to work and say it is bad policy since it pays many jobless people more money than they made at their previous jobs.
“But in this agreement it’s $600,” Pelosi said on ABC's ‘This Week.'' “Yes, they might anecdotally have examples, but the fact is, is that they’re subjecting somebody who gets $600 to scrutiny they won’t subject some of the people that are getting millions of dollars" through the loan program for small businesses that keep employees on their payrolls.
Another sticking point is that Republicans want to give more school aid to systems that are restarting with in-school learning, even as Dr. Deborah Birx, Trump's top coronavirus adviser, cautioned that schools in areas with spikes in cases should delay reopening
“In the areas where we have this widespread case increase, we need to stop the cases, and then we can talk about safely reopening," Birx said on “This Week.”
