House and Senate members returned to Washington, D.C. last week with leaders of both parties signaling a “Phase 4” COVID-19 relief bill will be their top priority over the remaining few weeks leading up to the August recess. Time is limited before pandemic unemployment insurance provisions expire at the end of the month and members of Congress head to the campaign trail and political conventions.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated she would delay the start of recess, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the roughly $3 trillion Phase 4 bill passed by the House in May “dead on arrival” in the Senate. Senate Republicans and White House officials spent recent two-week recess debating and drafting a separate bill, with the White House signaling support for roughly $1 trillion in spending and Senate Republicans insisting on liability protections for hospitals, schools, and businesses to help shield them from coronavirus-related lawsuits. Apart from cost, the parties are still far apart on key issues, including extended unemployment insurance benefits and funding for testing and contact tracing, vaccines, supply chains, providers, states, and local governments. (See here for more details)