Conservative allies of the president are weighing in on the next tranche of coronavirus relief funding, warning that Trump's reelection could hinge on the economic impact of the new bill — and urging him not to extend unemployment benefits from the CARES Act.
Details: Publishing magnate Steve Forbes and economist Stephen Moore have been warning Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the administration's lead negotiator on stimulus talks, and members of the White House economic council that the stakes for the new package "couldn't be higher."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to release his phase four legislation this week — more than two months after House Democrats unveiled their $3 trillion plan. McConnell's will be far more narrow in scope and include a roughly $1 trillion price tag, sources familiar with the bill tell Axios.
Why it matters: Several states, including some key to President Trump's re-election strategy, say more help is needed as new coronavirus cases are forcing them to shutter their economies again or at least slow their reopenings.
For months now, American workers, families and small businesses have been saying they can't keep up their socially distanced lives for much longer. We've now arrived at "much longer" — and the pandemic isn't going away anytime soon.
The big picture: The relief policies and stopgap measures that we cobbled together to get us through the toughest weeks worked for a while, but they're starting to crumble just as cases are spiking in the majority of states.
