McConnell reportedly warned White House against passing stimulus bill before the election
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has reportedly shut down all hope of passing a COVID-19 stimulus bill in the next two weeks.
Discussions regarding the next relief bill have gone on for months with no actual results after the last package — and the boosted unemployment insurance that came with it — expired after July. But despite Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) continuing discussions Tuesday, people familiar with the discussions say McConnell has called the whole thing off, The New York Times reports.
Mnuchin and Pelosi have been in talks for weeks, with Pelosi setting Tuesday as a deadline for both sides getting their "terms on the table." Yet negotiations didn't end as Democrats try to work at least $2 trillion in funding from the White House; Mnuchin offered up a $1.8 trillion package on Monday. McConnell meanwhile said Tuesday "if a presidentially supported bill clears the House at some point we'll bring it to the floor." But behind closed doors in a lunch with Senate Republicans, McConnell reportedly said he told the White House not to accept anything until after the election. He's looking to avoid making Republicans up for re-election avoid the "difficult choice of defying the president" by voting against the bill or "alienating their fiscally conservative base" by approving it, the Times reports.
President Trump had previously said he was ending the stimulus talks until after the election, only to change his mind just a few days later. McConnell has been pessimistic about negotiations for weeks.
https://news.yahoo.com/mcconnell-rep...213424716.html
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Taking it with a grain of salt due to unnamed sources, but wouldn't surprise me one bit.
I mentioned a while back that I think the biggest hurdle for any meaningful stimulus passing is getting the Senate votes.