Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House To Vote On Pelosi's $3T Relief Legislation Despite Warnings It Will Be DOA In Senate
Politico: Pelosi Moving Swiftly On $3 Trillion Relief Plan Despite Dem Gripes
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is projecting confidence that the House will pass Democrats’ massive coronavirus relief bill Friday, even as she and her leadership team are still working to secure the votes. Both liberals and centrists in the caucus are grumbling about the roughly $3 trillion measure. House Republicans have overwhelmingly said they oppose the bill, and some Democrats are unable to travel to the Capitol to vote amid the pandemic, leaving Pelosi and her whip operation with tight margins to clear the bill. (Ferris and Caygle, 5/14)
CNN: House To Vote On $3 Trillion Covid Aid Package And Historic Rules Change To Allow Remote Voting
Democrats have argued that the sweeping aid package, which allocates funding for state and local governments, coronavirus testing and a new round of direct payments to Americans, is urgently needed to address the unfolding crisis. The legislation, which reflects Democratic priorities and was not a product of bipartisan negotiations, would stand as the largest relief package in US history. (Foran, Byrd and Raju, 5/15)
ABC News: House To Vote On $3T Relief Package That Is 'DOA' In Senate
The proposed legislation includes a second round of direct cash payments to Americans, $1 trillion in aid for local, state and tribal governments drowning under the strain of the novel coronavirus, assistance for essential front-line workers, an extension of unemployment benefits and various other Democratic measures. The proposal, if it clears both chambers, would become the largest, most expensive spending package in U.S. history — surpassing the $2.2 trillion measure Congress passed in March. (Khan, 5/14)
The New York Times: With Go-Slow Approach, Republicans Risk Political Blowback On Pandemic Aid
More than eight weeks and almost $2.8 trillion federal dollars into an urgent response to the coronavirus pandemic, congressional Republicans and the Trump administration have made it clear that they have little interest in engaging with Democrats on another round of costly relief measures. But their resistance — born of spending fatigue and policy divisions — is proving increasingly unsustainable, given tens of millions of anxious Americans out of work, businesses and schools shuttered and an election looming. (Hulse, 5/15)
The Associated Press: Pelosi, GOP Exchange Barbs Over New Economic Relief Package
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lashed out Thursday at Trump administration officials and congressional Republicans seeking to slow work on a fresh round of coronavirus relief. The White House responded minutes later with a threat that President Donald Trump would veto the $3 trillion economic package Democrats have proposed. The bill already had zero chance of passing the GOP-controlled Senate and reaching Trump, making the veto threat a symbolic gesture. Along with caustic criticism by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the exchange underscored the deep election-year gulch over what Congress’ next response to the crisis should be. (Fram, 5/15)
ABC News: Pandemic Political Divide: Bipartisan Response Turns Bitter Over Relief Spending, Reopening
What started just weeks ago as a unified, emergency effort by Congress to get trillions of dollars to ordinary Americans and businesses in record time has now turned increasingly partisan -- as Democrats and Republicans fight over spending more pandemic relief money and how fast to reopen the economy. “We cannot borrow enough money to prop this economy up forever,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said during a digital appearance for the Trump campaign on Monday. He said lawmakers need to “begin to encourage the governors around the country, who have the decision-making ability, to open up the economy. (Pecorin, 5/14)
The Hill: McConnell: 'High Likelihood' That Congress Will Need To Pass Fifth Coronavirus Bill
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that Congress would likely need to pass a fifth coronavirus relief bill, but declined to give a timeline for additional legislation. McConnell, during a Fox News interview, said he did "anticipate" that Congress will need to "act again at some point" but that Republicans first wanted to review the roughly $2.8 trillion already appropriated by Congress. (Carney, 5/14)
The New York Times: Economists Want To Put Stimulus On Autopilot. Congress Has Other Ideas.
When there is an economic crisis, you want a government response that is scaled accordingly. But you don’t know in advance just how long a crisis will last or how severe it will be. Economists have a crisp-sounding solution: Calibrate government help, such as unemployment insurance and aid to state governments, so that it rises automatically when the economy is weak and falls as the economy returns to health. The unemployment rate or other economic indicators can serve as triggers. The concept of automatic stabilizers is embraced by many centrist and left-of-center technocrats, including the last two leaders of the Federal Reserve. (Irwin, 5/15)
Kaiser Health News: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: What’s In The Next Round Of COVID-19 Relief?
House Democrats are moving ahead with another round of COVID-19 relief, including additional funding for state Medicaid programs, an open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace plans, and money to pay premiums for newly unemployed Americans to continue on their employer health coverage. Republicans, however, say the Democrats’ bill goes too far. Meanwhile, the outbreak of the virus in the White House complex — including a top aide to Vice President Mike Pence ― has complicated the Trump administration’s efforts to press for a broader opening of the economy even while the illness continues to spread. (5/14)
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) walks backs accusations about the Obama administration —
Politico: McConnell Says He Was Wrong On Obama Pandemic Playbook
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday he was mistaken in claiming that the Obama administration had failed to leave a pandemic playbook for the Trump White House. “I was wrong,” McConnell said in an evening interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier. “They did leave behind a plan. So, I clearly made a mistake in that regard.” (Choi, 5/14)
CNN: McConnell Admits He Was Wrong To Say Obama Administration Failed To Leave A Pandemic Playbook
The concession comes days after he falsely accused the Obama administration of failing to leave the Trump administration "any kind of game plan" for something like the coronavirus pandemic during a Trump campaign online chat with Lara Trump, the President's daughter-in-law. "They claim pandemics only happen once every hundred years but what if that's no longer true? We want to be early, ready for the next one, because clearly the Obama administration did not leave to this administration any kind of game plan for something like this," McConnell had said Monday. (LeBlanc, 5/14)
Kaiser Health News and Politifact HealthCheck: Evidence Shows Obama Team Left A Pandemic ‘Game Plan’ For Trump Administration
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell alleged that the Obama administration did not provide the Trump administration with any information about the threat of a possible pandemic during a May 11 Team Trump Facebook Live discussion with Lara Trump. “They claim pandemics only happen once every 100 years, but what if that is no longer true? We want to be ready, early, for the next one. Because clearly, the Obama administration did not leave any kind of game plan for something like this,” said McConnell. (Knight, 5/15)
