Republicans are hunting for a backup plan on coronavirus relief as bipartisan negotiations tasked with finding a deal appear to be making no measurable progress.
The discussions come as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows have met every day this week with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer(D-N.Y.) but are, in their own words, “nowhere close to deal” and “very far apart.”
With the clock ticking — the House was supposed to start a five-week break on Friday and the Senate on Aug. 7 — Senate Republicans and the White House are floating myriad alternative ideas as they try to figure out how to break the logjam. Continue reading.