Govt Virus Response Dominates; Biden-Sanders Debate Next
It’s been coronavirus news all day, all the time. The effort of the U.S. federal government to get a handle on COVID-19 dominates all public policy in Washington. With this week’s steep market decline making action essential, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi unveiled a bill Wednesday night that has become the focus of negotiations between the White House, represented by Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, and the House Democrats.
Friday, President Trump declared national emergency in response to coronavirus. This could be in reaction to the poor response to his speech on Wednesday. A declaration of a national emergency allows him to issue wider executive orders and use FEMA. This is a sharp turnabout in White House strategy after weeks of declaring there is low risk for most Americans, a statement he made as recently as his Wednesday night speech.
The bill is aimed at providing immediate relief to those who miss work due to the virus, get sick and need testing or hospital care, through an infusion of funding to state unemployment funds, and a boost in food assistance programs. In the negotiations the Speaker agreed to have the sick leave provisions sunset with the end of the coronavirus crisis and also agreed to the so-called Hyde Amendment language that has traditionally been added to all spending bills and limits funding for abortion.
The Speaker reportedly hopes to pass the bill on Friday, but House Republicans are looking for the personal assurance of the President that he will support and sign the bill. If the House can pass a bipartisan bill the Senate will act over the weekend or early next week. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has promised to pass any deal that is struck between the House and the White House. The President, after the disappointing reaction to his speech on Wednesday night, is looking for positive action to assure the public that the government is at work, hence he is anxious for a bill that he can sign.
The legislation will not have relief for the business community and there is likely to be another bill in the next few weeks. At this point the hard-hit travel industry has not yet come up with its “ask” but is said to be reviewing its options. I would expect legislation with tax breaks and perhaps some direct aid to be put forward in the next few weeks.
2020 Election
Despite the virus spread, the politics of 2020 proceed, though on new terms. Gone are the large rallies that have been the life blood of politics in recent years. However, from my days in politics I always had to remind candidates that, while rallies were great, probably less than 1% of all voters would actually see a candidate at an event. Free media on the evening news, and paid commercials are the real currency of modern political campaigns and that is now more important than ever.
Sunday night will be the first one-on-one debate between former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. The vice president enters the debate on a wave of electoral victories and is closing in on the nomination. Biden has run for president three times before and has always floundered, so being the leader is new terrain for him and a two-person debate could be a high wire performance. Debates with President Trump will be central to the fall campaign and passing the test on Sunday will be a big step towards the nomination.
Figure: Top Trump Tweets
