The Republicans haven’t revealed their coronavirus plan, but Nancy Pelosi is already threatening to shoot it down.
The Speaker of the House told CBS that she will reject the one thing Republicans want in the next stimulus bill: liability protections.
Pelosi threatens to torpedo coronavirus bill
After previous efforts at negotiating coronavirus legislation produced expensive, ambitious, and partisan “wish lists” from Pelosi, Republicans have come to the table with some reluctance.
Despite complaining about inaction from across the aisle, it looks like Pelosi is ready to play the obstructionist again, if needed.
Republicans have made passing liability protections a sticking point, arguing that they are necessary to shield companies worried about getting smacked with lawsuits, but Pelosi has pushed back, painting Republicans as keen on letting corporations off the hook for sickened employees.
In an interview with Margaret Brennan on Sunday, Pelosi indicated that she is ready to cross what Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has called a “red line” — potentially placing the next round of legislation in jeopardy, before the conversation has even started.
“What they’re saying to essential workers [is[ ‘you have to go to work because you’re essential. We’ve placed no responsibility on your employer to make that workplace safe, and if you get sick, you have no recourse because we’ve given your employer protection. And if you don’t go to work because you’re afraid of being sick and you have that job opportunity, you don’t get unemployment insurance,'” she said.
Pelosi the obstructionist
Despite these lamentations, Pelosi has been in no hurry to end lockdowns that have crippled the economy, and she hasn’t been very expeditious in the past about passing relief legislation either.
With thousands of companies already shuttered for good, small businesses are seeking reassurances that they won’t be sued into oblivion, despite Pelosi’s caricature of corporate greed.
Now, weeks after they rejected a $3 trillion bill dreamed up by Pelosi and her fellow Democrats, Senate Republicans are ready to negotiate, and they are expected to lay out their $1 trillion proposal on Monday.
The bill is expected to include another round of stimulus checks, but disagreements linger over liability protections and the $600 expansion to unemployment insurance, poised to sunset this week. Republicans have argued that current benefit levels are too high and give people an incentive to stay unemployed.
“This is an emergency. Maybe they don’t understand. I don’t know what they have against working families in America,” Pelosi said.
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