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Consensus starts to grow on ‘Phase 4’ coronavirus relief

But while President Donald Trump also backed the idea of a multi-trillion dollar infrastructure package, Pelosi’s pitch was met with staunch opposition from other senior Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Republicans have been almost uniformly pushing a go-slow philosophy given the sheer magnitude of the bill they just approved.

„After you pass a $2.2 trillion piece of legislation you probably ought to take a deep breath and see what works and needs to be changed and spend some time making it work,“ said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who chairs a key health and education committee.

Yet Republicans are also increasingly acknowledging they will need to act again, mostly in terms of extending the benefits for small businesses to pay employees and cover expenses for beyond eight weeks. Alexander said current policy could conflict with local officials ordering workers to stay at home.

„All the pieces in the puzzle don’t fit together when we encourage: Pay your employees for eight weeks. And the state shuts down the restaurant,“ Alexander said. „And then the second one is: I think it’s going to run out of money. One big bank told me that it expects a million applications.“

“We are already working on ideas for Phase 4 and we’re collecting those ideas from constituents in Colorado, we’ve got some adjustments to the CARES Act that I think would be appropriate for Phase 4,“ added Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.). „I’d like to see an infrastructure bill more forward. Maybe that’s Phase 4, maybe that’s Phase 5. But there’s going to be additional action required.“

And privately, some Democrats have expressed concerns that such a broad plan risked alienating voters, especially if Republicans were able to convincingly claim Democrats were more focused on liberal priorities than addressing immediate coronavirus-related needs.

Pelosi’s pivot comes after startling new unemployment numbers were released showing a record 10 million Americans applying for jobless benefits in the last two weeks. The numbers are expected to rise dramatically in the coming weeks as federal agencies process claims that have been filed in the past few weeks, as the coronavirus pandemic started shuttering the U.S. economy.

„How much longer might we extend the [small business loan program], from two months to three months or three months to four months? Might we extend the unemployment insurance? Might we send a second check out?“ said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), discussing the possibilities Congress may need to confront by the end of the month.

A source close to Pelosi said the alarming unemployment numbers have influenced her thinking on the need to limit the focus of the next legislative package but cautioned that nothing is set in stone as Democrats have yet to even draft a bill.

A timeline for any legislative action remains uncertain. Both the House and Senate are out of session until April 20 and that could be extended even longer if congressional leaders feel it isn’t safe for members to travel to and work in the Capitol.

Jake Sherman and Quint Forgey contributed to this report.

Source: politico.com
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