Coronavirus Relief Takes Back Seat As Senate Gears Up For Supreme Court Fight
The GOP’s push to quickly confirm another conservative Supreme Court justice is overshadowing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in Washington and makes the odds of another federal relief package even less likely before the November election.
As the U.S. reached the grim pandemic milestone of 200,000 deaths on Tuesday, the focus in the GOP-controlled Senate was on filling the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat and solidifying a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for decades to come.
Senate Republicans met behind closed doors to discuss the timing of hearings and a confirmation vote ― which is expected before the Nov. 3 election.
“It seems to me the GOP said, ‘We don’t care about COVID, we just want to get this done,’” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) told reporters on Capitol Hill.
In reality, negotiations between the Trump administration and congressional Democrats over another fiscal stimulus package for millions of Americans and businesses suffering amid the pandemic have been stalled for months. Congress is struggling to even do the bare minimum and avert another government shutdown at the end of the month.
Democrats last month blocked a narrow GOP coronavirus bill with aid for businesses, schools and the unemployed because, they said, it failed to adequately address the scope of the public health crisis and the accompanying economic devastation. It did not include rental assistance or aid to cities and states, which Democrats have insisted on.
“Either Republicans do not understand the gravity of the situation or do not care about the needs of America’s working families,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement on Tuesday before a moment of silence in the House in honor of the victims of the pandemic.
Trump again attempted to downplay the pandemic at a campaign rally on Monday by saying it affects “elderly people with heart problems and other problems.”
“It affects virtually nobody. It’s an amazing...
