Trump appears to waffle on shutdown as Congress pursues aid
President Trump suggested Monday he had qualms about extending the current 15-day suggested shutdown as his officials warned about the deepening coronavirus crisis and administration officials and congressional leaders struggled to complete a nearly $2 trillion economic rescue package.
"I didn't expect to be starting off my week with such a dire message for America," Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on "CBS This Morning." "Things are going to get worse before they get better. We really need everyone to understand this."
Yet only hours earlier, Trump suggested that the remedies may be more harmful than the outbreak in a tweet contradicting the advice of medical experts across the country.
In all capital letters, he tweeted: "We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself. At the end of the 15-day period, we will make a decision as to which way we want to go."
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On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence said the country should expect new federal guidance "which will make it possible for people that have been exposed to return to work more quickly with — by wearing a mask for a certain period of time."
Trump officials and congressional leaders were to resume talks after working through the night on the massive $2 trillion economic rescue plan. Democrats had derailed the plan Sunday night, arguing it was tilted toward corporations and did too little to help workers and health care providers.
"Our nation cannot afford a game of chicken," warned Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., his voice rising on the Senate floor Sunday night. His goal is to vote Monday. The Senate will reconvene at noon.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, sounded optimistic .
"This bill is going to affect this country and the lives of Americans, not just for the next few days, but in the next few months and years — so we have to make sure it is good," he said.
But he cited "serious problems with McConnell's bill, such as "corporate bailout funds without restrictions or without oversight — you wouldn't even know who is getting the money." He said the bill doesn't have enough money for hospitals and broader emergency health care needs and none for state and local government.
Yet, he added: "We're getting closer and closer."
On the economic front, the Federal Reserve announced Monday it will lend to small and large businesses and local governments as well as extend its bond-buying programs as part of a series of sweeping steps to support the flow of credit through an economy ravaged by the viral outbreak.
The Fed said it will set up three new lending facilities that will provide up to $300 billion by purchasing corporate bonds, buying a wider range of municipal bonds, and purchasing asset-backed securities.
It also says it will buy an unlimited amount of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities in an effort hold down interest rates and ensure those markets function smoothly.
With a population on edge and shell-shocked financial markets entering a new work week, Washington labored under the size and scope of a rescue package that's more ambitious than any in recent times — larger than the 2008 bank bailout and 2009 recovery act combined.
Democrats say the largely Republican-led effort does not go far enough to provide health care and worker aid and fails to put restraints on a proposed $500 billion "slush fund" for corporations. They voted to block its advance.
Democrats won a concession — to provide four months of expanded unemployment benefits, rather than just three as proposed, according to an official granted anonymity to discuss the private talks. The jobless pay also would extend to self-employed and so-called gig workers.
Alarms were being sounded from coast to coast about the wave of coronavirus cases about to crash onto the nation's health system.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said from the pandemic's U.S. epicenter: "April and May are going to be a lot worse." On NBC's "Meet the Press," he all but begged Washington to help procure ventilators and other medical supplies and accused the Republican president of "not lifting a finger" to help.
Trump urged Congress to get a deal done and, during the Sunday briefing, responded to criticism that his administration was sluggish to act. He cited his cooperation with the three states hardest hit — New York, Washington and California — and invoked a measure to give governors flexibility in calling up the national guard under their control, while the federal government covers the bill.
But even as Trump stressed federal-local partnerships, some governors, including Republican Greg Abbott of Texas, expressed unhappiness with Washington's response. The president himself took a swipe at Democratic Gov. J. B. Pritzker of Illinois, saying that he and "a very small group of certain other Governors, together with Fake News" should not be "blaming the Federal Government for their own shortcomings."
In recent days, Trump invoked the Defense Protection Act, a rarely used, decades-old authority that can be used to compel the private sector to manufacture needed medical supplies like masks and ventilators. Officials said Sunday that it would be used voluntarily and businesses would not be compelled to act.
"We are a country not based on nationalizing our business," said Trump, who has repeatedly railed against socialism overseas and among Democrats.
The urgency to act is mounting, as jobless claims skyrocket and financial markets are eager for signs that Washington can soften the blow of the health-care crisis and what experts say is a looming recession.
Central to the package is as much as $350 billion for small businesses to keep making payroll while workers are forced to stay home. There is also a one-time rebate check of about $1,200 per person, or $3,000 for a family of four, as well as the extended unemployment benefits.
Hospitals would get about $110 billion for the expected influx of sick patients, said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Democrats have warned the draft plan's $500 billion for corporations does not put enough restraints on business, saying the ban on corporate stock buy-backs is weak and the limits on executive pay are only for two years.
"We're not here to create a slush fund for Donald Trump and his family, or a slush fund for the Treasury Department to be able to hand out to their friends," said Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. "We're here to help workers, we're here to help hospitals."
The president, when pressed by a reporter, dodged a question as to whether his own business would seek federal money.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.