“I think if Mitch can get half the conference that’d be quite an accomplishment,” Graham said Tuesday.
McConnell acknowledged the challenges in an interview with PBS NewsHour Wednesday evening, when he said “about 20 of our members think that we’ve already done enough.”
“That’s not my view,” he added, nor was it the view of the “majority” of Republican senators.
The tedious negotiations come as schools across the country are several weeks away from the start of a new school year.
Districts across the country are weighing whether they should reopen for students, offer a mixed mode of learning or stay closed as COVID-19 continues to spread.
Schools typically start in August or early September leaving little time for funds to pass Congress, get Trump’s signature and also get into the hands of school districts that will need boosted funds to ensure safety for teachers, children and staff.
While there are major differences between Republicans, Democrats and the administration , funds for education have seemingly emerged as a bipartisan bright spot – though not without some partisan bickering.
Democrats, who approved their bill in May, allotted $100 billion for schools. Republicans have set aside $105 billion, though their bill also gives money to private schools and ties some of the funds to schools reopening – proposals which Democrats oppose.
Pelosi has also signaled that Democrats now want more funds for schools since their $100 billion proposal was crafted months before schools were readying for the fall.
While there is agreement that schools need more funding, members of both parties have huddled in their respective corners. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, called the Republican proposal an attempt at “bullying schools” into reopening.
“Democrats want schools to reopen for in-person learning if it can be done safely – but the partisan Republican proposal would put students, educators, and communities at risk by taking a one-size fits all approach and pushing school districts to ignore local public health officials,” they said in a statement. “This is not a plan to help schools reopen safely; it is a recipe for more chaos and illness.”
Some have remained confidant that despite the hurdles, funds would reach schools in time.
“I would expect that by the time we get to Labor Day, schools will begin to see money,” Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., told reporters on Capitol Hill, adding that there are mandates in the bill that force money to go out the door within 15 days. “It’ll go pretty fast.”
More: Rep. Gohmert wonders if wearing a mask led to COVID-19 diagnosis despite health guidance to the contrary
Short-term extension gets a tepid reception
As negotiations continue, the Trump administration has floated a short-term fix – a temporary extension of the boost to unemployment benefits and a moratorium on evictions.
Mnuchin told reporters Wednesday he spoke to the president about a possible short-term extension.
“As of now we’re very far apart and because of that – the president and we have discussed a short-term extension to (unemployment insurance) and the evictions so that we have some period to negotiate before this runs out,” he told reporters on the White House South Lawn.
A key sticking point in negotiations between Republicans and Democrats has been whether to extend an additional $600 that about 30 million unemployed Americans received as part of their unemployment benefits.The enhanced employment insurance is set to expire this week. A federal moratorium that had shielded about 12 million Americans from eviction expired last Friday.
Democratic leaders, however, object to a short-term extension. Speaking to reporters following the end of negotiations on Wednesday afternoon, Pelosi and Schumer said Republicans had come up with a “skinny little bill that doesn’t address the moment.”
Asked about support for a short-term extension like Mnuchin had floated, Pelosi said, “there is no short-term extension” and Schumer said, “they don’t have anything that would pass the Senate.”
Some senators warmed to the short-term proposal, but others shot it down.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told reporters Tuesday, “Ultimately, it’s clear we’re not going to have a universal agreement in place Friday so there may be some things that have to be done that way.”
And the idea gained some traction on the other side of the aisle, too. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters, “I think that for some period of time (unemployment extensions) could make sense.”
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said he pitched a short-term fix to senators that would continue a boost to unemployment benefits that would start at $600 in August and then decrease by $200 per month, but his proposal did not appear to pick up much traction, either.
“I don’t want to see the supplemental payments cut off and having people suffering while we’re negotiating a very large package,” he said.
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