Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
With Stimulus Talks Deadlocked, White House May Walk Away And Act Alone
AP: Capitol Negotiators Still Stuck, Still Trying On Virus Aid
After more than a week’s worth of meetings, at least some clarity is emerging in the bipartisan Washington talks on a huge COVID-19 response bill. Negotiators are still stuck but still trying. A combative meeting Wednesday involving top Capitol Hill Democrats and the postmaster general and a souring tone from both sides indicate that a long slog remains Thursday and beyond. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows threatened that President Donald Trump is exploring options to use executive authority to extend a partial eviction ban and address unemployment benefits. (Taylor, 8/6)
ABC News: White House Officials Signal Coronavirus Relief Negotiations Will Cease If An Agreement Is Not Reached By Friday
White House officials told Senate Republicans on Wednesday that if a deal is not reached with Democrats on coronavirus relief by Friday, negotiations will likely stop. "I think at this point we're either going to get serious about negotiating and get an agreement in principle," Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters Wednesday. "I've become extremely doubtful that we'll be able to make a deal if it goes well beyond Friday." (Pecorin and Turner, 8/5)
The Hill: Negotiators Remain Far Apart On Coronavirus Deal As Deadline Looms
The two sides entered the talks with vastly different price tags, with Senate Republicans offering a $1 trillion package and House Democrats passing a $3.4 trillion bill in May. And they faced a litany of policy differences including how to address the $600-per week federal unemployment plus-up, money for state and local governments with the GOP package only offering flexibility for the $150 billion already appropriated by Congress, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) red line of liability protections. (Carney, 8/5)
Politico: ‘I Want To Get An Outcome’: McConnell Defends Strategy As He Faces GOP Grumbling
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell knows where he needs to take his fellow Republicans on coronavirus relief — but he’s not sure how many will follow him there. Facing a deeply divided Senate GOP conference just three months before an election that could cost Republicans their majority, McConnell is struggling to hold his members together as the White House and Democratic congressional leaders negotiate a new coronavirus relief package. There are complaints about the plan pushed by McConnell, as well as questions over whether any deal can get done this close to Nov. 3. For the first time in a while, Republicans are questioning McConnell’s choices. (Bresnahan, Levine and Desiderio, 8/5)
The Hill: Duckworth: Republican Coronavirus Package Would 'Gut' Americans With Disabilities Act
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), the first disabled woman elected to the Senate, slammed Senate Republicans’ coronavirus relief proposal in a floor speech Wednesday evening, saying it would “gut” the Americans with Disabilities Act. Duckworth invoked the “Capitol Crawl” by wheelchair users lobbying for the 1990 legislation, including eight-year-old Jennifer Keelan, who was heard to say “I’ll take all night if I have to.” “Thirty years ago this legislative body said people like me mattered, but last week the Republicans in this chamber proposed a bill that said that we don’t,” Duckworth said. (Budryk, 8/5)
In related news —
The New York Times: Postal Service Funding Dispute Complicates Impasse Over U.S. Virus Stimulus
Top lawmakers remained nowhere close to an agreement on Wednesday for a new economic rescue package amid the recession, and appeared to be growing increasingly pessimistic that they could meet a self-imposed Friday deadline. A dispute over funding for the United States Postal Service has joined expanded unemployment benefits and aid to state and local governments on the list of issues dividing Democratic leaders and the Trump administration. (8/5)
The Washington Post: Democrats Demand Postal Service Reverse New Rules That Have Slowed The Delivery Of Absentee Ballots
Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill told negotiators for President Trump on Wednesday that preserving funding for the U.S. Postal Service and removing new rules that have slowed delivery times are essential ingredients of a new coronavirus relief bill in a year when millions of Americans plan to vote by mail. “Elections are sacred,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), told reporters after a meeting with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. “To do cutbacks when ballots, all ballots, have to be counted — we can’t say, ‘Oh, we’ll get 94 percent of them.’ It’s insufficient.” (Gardner and Bogage, 8/5)
In other legislative news —
Politico: 'It's Whiplash': Dead People May Yet Get Their Stimulus Checks
Dead people could end up eligible for economic stimulus checks after all. A little-noticed provision in Senate Republicans’ latest coronavirus relief package would partially overturn the Treasury Department’s much-publicized ban on sending stimulus money to the departed. So long as someone died this year, they would be eligible for the $1,200 payments included in the plan. Not just that, Senate Republicans would also make them retroactively eligible for the previous round of stimulus checks. (Faler, 8/5)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia House Speaker Asks U.S. Senate For $500 Billion Aid Package For States
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston this week became the latest state official to urge Congress to provide a $500 billion relief package to states as governments across the country shed workers and cut programs because of the coronavirus recession. “The COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge us on the state level regarding the delivery of services,” Ralston wrote in a letter to U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, both Georgia Republicans. (Salzer, 8/5)
