Tag: Chuck Schumer

Schumer sees quick coronavirus aid deal

Friday morning call between Schumer and Mnuchin signals movement

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Friday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has agreed to bipartisan talks on a new coronavirus economic aid package, which the New York Democrat said could lead to a deal by early next week.

A stalemate emerged Thursday over next steps for Congress to provide financial relief for the COVID-19 pandemic. Senate Republicans attempted to add $251 billion to a dwindling fund for small-business loans, as Democrats pushed for a broader relief effort. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sought unanimous consent for legislation to replenish the loan fund, but Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee ranking member Benjamin L. Cardin objected.

There is disagreement over how quickly more money is needed for small-business loans and whether the next economic aid package must include more funding for hospitals and state and local governments, among other things. Continue reading.

Pelosi, Schumer want aid to states, hospitals in GOP small business bill

The Hill logoSpeaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) say a Republican request to funnel an additional $250 billion to a special small-business loan program for the coronavirus crisis must also include hundreds of billions of dollars for hospitals, state and local governments and food assistance.

“As Democrats have said since Day One, Congress must provide additional relief for small businesses and families, building on the strong down-payment made in the bipartisan CARES Act,” they said in a statement Wednesday morning.

The Democratic response comes a day after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he would ask for unanimous consent on the Senate floor Thursday to approve an additional $250 billion in funding for the popular small-business Paycheck Protection Program. Continue reading.

Combative in public, Trump administration and congressional leaders negotiate behind the scenes on coronavirus relief

Washington Post logoThe president and the speaker haven’t spoken in months, while the president is openly taunting the Senate’s top Democrat about a potential primary challenge more than two years away. The top Republicans have direct channels to the president but don’t share the same big-spending appetite as the leader of their party.

The core five leaders in Washington — President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) — and their interactions with one another have come under scrutiny amid the coronavirus outbreak, as the pandemic continues to swamp the nation, killing thousands of Americans and plunging the U.S. economy into crisis.

Yet for all the public signs of discord, communications and coordination between congressional leaders and the Trump administration have hummed along, compensating for the dysfunctional relationship — or the outright lack of one — between Trump himself and the top two Democrats on Capitol Hill. Continue reading.

Trump tangles with Schumer all day over coronavirus response

“We need someone unpolitical to produce the materials more quickly,” Schumer says.

President Donald Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer clashed all day Thursday in media appearances, tweets and dueling letters over the federal government’s response to the coronavirus crisis.

The tension reached a climax when Trump sent a letter to the New York Democrat, defending his administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But the letter also got personal, as the president accused the Democratic leader of getting caught up in the “impeachment hoax” and being “missing in action, except when it comes to the ‘press.”

On MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes,” Schumer said Thursday evening that he was “appalled” at the president’s letter and told Trump to “stop the pettiness — people are dying.” Continue reading.

Senate Democrats urge White House to quickly nominate new inspector general for coronavirus programs

Washington Post logoPresident Trump on Friday took a step that could weaken an inspector general’s independence, but Democrats said strong oversight is needed to ensure accountability

Three senior Senate Democrats are asking Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to honor the terms of a new coronavirus law that establishes independent oversight to monitor the Trump administration’s handling of a $500 billion funding program, according to a copy of a letter obtained by The Washington Post.

Shortly after enacting the law on Friday, President Trump took a step to curb the program’s oversight, kicking off a battle between Congress and the White House over how the law would be implemented and scrutinized.

Mnuchin brokered many of the terms of the spending deal with Democrats last week, and in their letter to him they expressed alarm about Trump’s immediate signing statement, which some interpreted as an attempt to weaken the reporting requirements of a new inspector general. The letter, signed by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), also said Trump must “without delay” nominate the new inspector general to oversee and probe the funding. Continue reading.

How the $2 trillion deal came together — and nearly fell apart

Inside McConnell, Schumer and Mnuchin’s race to rescue the economy.

It was going to cost $1 trillion.

Late on March 16, five days after the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic, Larry Kudlow — the one-time cable news talker turned top economic advisor to President Donald Trump — was in the Senate’s historic Mansfield room, telling a group of senior GOP senators something they didn’t want to hear.

The U.S. economy was going to need a lot of help — and fast. Americans faced dire consequences if Congress didn’t act quickly, warned Kudlow, alongside Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought and White House Legislative Affairs Director Eric Ueland. The senators were stunned and dismayed. Continue reading.

Stimulus plan hinges on McConnell, Schumer repairing toxic relationship

The Hill logoThe next stimulus deal will require extensive negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) — two lawmakers who don’t have much of a working relationship.

GOP leaders are zeroing in on a massive economic stimulus package that’s agreeable to Senate Republicans as a whole, but talks with Democrats are just getting started. That means work on the bill will spill over into next week.

Schumer said on MSNBC Thursday that he expected to begin meeting with McConnell later in the day. Continue reading.

Pelosi Battling Trump And McConnell Over Pandemic Relief Legislation

Top Republican leaders — from Donald Trump to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — are dismissing a bill from congressional Democrats that would provide economic security to workers most impacted by the fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak, saying they don’t want to rush a response.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced a bill this week that would give workers 14 days of paid sick leave (the number of days someone with COVID-19 or those suspected to have it must remain in quarantine), as well as provide food security to low-income families that rely on food stamps or free school lunch. It would also make testing for the virus free.

But Trump and McConnell are dismissing the bill, with Trump saying it’s full of “goodies” and McConnell saying offering free testing and economic security for vulnerable communities is “not related to the pressing issues at hand.” Continue reading.

Schumer asks inspectors general to investigate whistleblower retaliation after Vindman firing

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a star witness in the House impeachment inquiry, was removed from his position at the White House on Friday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is asking that every agency inspector general investigate retaliation against whistleblowers who report presidential misconduct, after the firing of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council.

Schumer’s letters to 74 inspectors general, which will be sent Monday, comes after Vindman, a star witness in the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, was removed from his position at the White House on Friday, along with his twin, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, an ethics lawyer at the NSC. Both brothers are active-duty Army officers and were reassigned to the Pentagon.

Gordon Sondland, ambassador to the European Union and another key witness, was also recalled from his post. Continue reading.

‘A permanent asterisk’: Acquittal at hand, Democrats sow doubt about Trump trial

Washington Post logoWere it up to Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), historians would mention President Trump’s all-but-certain impeachment acquittal much the same way baseball fans mention Barry Bonds’s career home-run record — an achievement destined to be obscured by an eternal cloud.

While Trump, unlike Bonds, does not stand accused of benefiting from performance-enhancing drugs, Democrats started this week to make an aggressive case that the Republican-led Senate’s decision Friday to end Trump’s trial without summoning witnesses or documents should cast grave doubt on its outcome.

The charge has been led by the most senior Democratic officials as it grew increasingly clear this week that Republican senators would vote to reject additional evidence and pave the way for a largely partisan verdict.