After three days of boring and barely newsworthy hearings on a Supreme Court confirmation that is a foregone conclusion, Republicans want to distract voters’ attention from soaring “third wave” Covid-19 infections (read that story here), so Senate GOP Leader McConnell has scheduled a vote on a relief bill (read that story here), which necessarily is what recalcitrant GOP senators will vote for, which limits it to $500 billion. So now there are three GOP different proposals floating in the ether:
- The $1.8 trillion offer Mnuchin is negotiating with Pelosi, which they’re talking about again this weekend (see current status here)
- The piecemeal proposals Trump has been throwing up in the air, which aren’t going anywhere
- McConnell’s $500 billion bill, which Democrats have already rejected
CNN previously reported (here), “Senate Republicans have united behind the price tag of $500 billion.” Assuming Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s votes on McConnell’s proposal pass, all it does is replace the “$0” in the “Seventh Offer” with “$0.5 trilion,” so I’ve updated the chart below accordingly. Here’s where things stand now: