Biden Team, Pushing Quick Stimulus Deal, Prepares for Renewed Recession

A dispute over the size of the package has stalled talks for months. Democrats have rejected multiple Senate Republican proposals — the latest at about $500 billion — as insufficient to address the economy’s needs, particularly because they do not include money for state and local governments to plug budget holes and avoid public-sector layoffs. Mr. Zandi said that such a package “maybe barely gets you through to a vaccine” but risks running out when the economy still needs help.

Several Republicans have expressed wariness about spending much more, revisiting concerns about the national debt and insisting that the economy is improving.

“We want to reach agreement on all the areas where compromise is well within reach, send hundreds of billions of dollars to urgent and uncontroversial programs, and let Washington argue over the rest later,” Mr. McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor this week, deriding the Democratic offer. “By playing all-or-nothing hardball with a proposal this radical, our colleagues have thus far guaranteed that American workers and families get nothing at all.”

The legislative window before the start of the next Congress in January is quickly tightening, leaving many skeptical that a stimulus package could be passed before the end of the year. Most of the discussion around spending has centered on avoiding a government shutdown and approving the necessary dozen annual spending bills. About one week of scheduled legislative days remain, during which lawmakers will need to pass legislation to fund the government beyond Dec. 11. It is unclear whether either chamber will remain in Washington if that deadline is met, particularly when Capitol Hill is struggling to stem the spread of the coronavirus among the rank and file.

Economists are increasingly stressing the need for lawmakers to act quickly, even if that means reaching agreement on smaller package. A bipartisan group convened by the Aspen Institute’s Economic Strategy Group — including former Treasury secretaries under Democratic and Republican administrations — urged lawmakers on Thursday to approve a package that includes aid to small businesses, individuals and state and local governments, saying the economy “cannot wait until 2021” for relief.

“What I’m really worried about is the millions of people who are going to be without food or without a home during the winter,” said Melissa S. Kearney, the economist who directs the strategy group. “That level of individual suffering, really, to me, should be everyone’s priority and move them past their political differences.”

Nicholas Fandos and Thomas Kaplan contributed reporting.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/22/business/economy/biden-coronavirus-stimulus-recession.html