Partisan battles block U.S. Senate coronavirus bill but talks continue

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Partisan battles in the U.S. Senate on Sunday stopped a coronavirus response bill from advancing, even as negotiations continued over Democrats’ demands for more federal funding for medical care and state and local efforts to combat the outbreak.

The measure faltered after it failed to get the necessary 60 votes in the 100-member chamber to clear a procedural hurdle after days of negotiations.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged Democrats to stop their “obstruction,” saying it was delaying aid and hurting financial markets.

The bill is Congress’ third effort to blunt the economic toll of a disease that has killed at least 415 people in the United States and sickened more than 35,000, leading governors to order nearly a third of the nation’s population to stay at home and putting much business activity on hold.

The measure envisages financial aid for regular Americans, small businesses and critically affected industries, including airlines.

Democrats had raised objections to the Senate bill throughout the day, with the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, saying it had “many, many problems” and would benefit corporate interests at the expense of hospitals, healthcare workers, cities and states.

The failure of the measure to move forward sends Democrats and Republicans back to the bargaining table. The speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said earlier on Sunday that Democrats in that chamber will begin crafting an alternative to the Senate bill.

After the vote, Schumer said the legislation had not improved enough in negotiations to win Democratic backing. He said more money was needed for community health centers, nursing homes, masks, ventilators, personal protective equipment and aid to state and local governments.

Schumer added that “changes to the legislation are being made even as we speak” but there still were “too many problems in the legislation.” He said he thought those problems could be overcome in the next 24 hours.

On the Senate floor, a visibly angry McConnell accused Democrats of obstruction. “If we aren’t able to act tomorrow, it will be because of our colleagues on the other side continuing to dicker when the country expects us to come together and address this problem,” he said.

As they rushed to strike a deal, lawmakers remained mindful that a failure to reach a deal on Sunday could batter already reeling financial markets on Monday.

But Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, said that would not rush Democrats into a deal they don’t want. “Markets always come back,” he said.

In a sign of the disease’s spread into the nation’s top legislative body, Republican Senator Rand Paul on Sunday said he had tested positive. Republican Senators Mike Lee and Mitt Romney said they would self-quarantine.

At a White House briefing on Sunday, President Donald Trump said he still had hope that a massive aid package could still pass Congress swiftly.

Vice President Mike Pence said 254,000 Americans have been tested for the virus and slightly more than 30,000 tested positive.

The Senate bill’s controversial provisions included those aimed at helping corporations, rather than workers, as well as those allowing the government to delay disclosing what firms, states or municipalities had received aid for up to six months.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the leading Democratic candidate to challenge Trump in the November U.S. presidential election, blasted the president’s handling of the crisis.

“President Trump neglected, minimized, and lied about this virus,” Biden said in a statement. “Stop lying and start acting. Use the full extent of your authorities, now, to ensure that we are producing all essential goods and delivering them.”

Speaking on “Fox News Sunday” earlier, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the package would include loans for small businesses, direct deposits that could give an average family of four $3,000, and up to $4 trillion in liquidity for the U.S. Federal Reserve to help businesses get through the next 90 to 120 days.

A Republican-drafted bill seen by Reuters gives the U.S. Treasury authority to provide up to $500 billion in loans, loan guarantees and other investments in eligible businesses, states and municipalities to help tide them over during the crisis.

Of this, up to $50 billion could provide loans and loan guarantees for passenger airlines, $8 billion for cargo air carriers and $17 billion for businesses critical to national security.

The remaining $425 billion would be available for loans, loan guarantees and other investments for the Fed to provide liquidity to help the financial system lend to businesses, states and municipalities.