A pandemic relief package without a payroll tax cut is expected to be made public the week of July 27, as Senate Republicans reject a Trump administration priority.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said July 23 that a framework is in place but that the White House requested more time to review the fine details of the bill. “We have an agreement in principle on the shape of the package,” he said.
Senate Republicans and administration officials agreed to drop plans for a payroll tax cut, but were unable to cobble together a pandemic relief package to appease the caucus, which remains divided on the size and content of the bill.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that negotiators agreed not to go ahead with a payroll tax cut despite President Trump’s insistence on its inclusion. The provision has been opposed by both parties since first mentioned in March.
During a press conference, Trump backed away from his earlier threat to veto a relief bill that didn’t include a payroll tax cut. “We’re not going to get Democrat votes on that,” Trump acknowledged. “I’d like to see it; I think it’d be very good for the workers. But if we’re not going to get their votes, I guess we have to go on to the next thing.”
Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows again met with Republican leaders July 23 and told reporters that the new legislation would provide taxpayers with stimulus checks in a program structured identically to the one created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136). The CARES Act provided taxpayers making under $75,000 with $1,200, plus an additional $500 per child. Republicans agreed that structuring the program like the last one would allow them to distribute the money faster, but not everyone agreed that those with jobs should be getting checks.
Mnuchin said the package would include credits for rehiring and for businesses to purchase personal protective equipment for staff. Republicans have also largely agreed on funding another round of the popular Paycheck Protection Program to allow businesses to receive a second round of loans.
McConnell said Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, have been working on a sequel to the small business loan program. Rubio has said the second round of loans would be more targeted and allow small businesses to receive additional funds if they’ve used the first batch of PPP money in accordance with the rules.
The failure to produce a bill before the end of the week led Democrats to criticize their counterparts and reject some of their proposals, such as liability protection for businesses that reopen during the pandemic. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said the ideas being floated by Republicans fall short of what is necessary to help Americans overcome the economic downturn.
Democrats have for weeks urged Republicans to approve the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act (H.R. 6800), which would expand the earned income and child tax credits, and extend the paid sick and family leave credits, among other tax relief provisions.
Schumer also rejected rumored plans by Republicans to break up the legislation and approve some measures in stages, starting with a stopgap bill to prolong unemployment insurance, which is scheduled to run out by July 31.
Jonathan Curry contributed to this article.