STIMULUS NEGOTIATIONS AND WHEN THEY RESUME

Stimulus negotiations and when they resume. Congress went on recess last week without passing a new stimulus relief bill, but the growing crisis with the U.S. Postal Service ahead of the presidential election will bring it back into session. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will cut the House of Representatives break short with a vote on standalone legislation that would halt changes to the U.S. Postal Service. However, it’s still unclear if and when a vote could come on the overall stimulus package, or if that could include a second stimulus check. “In a time of a pandemic, the Postal Service is Election Central,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Congress. “Lives, livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy are under threat from the President.” White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said that he was open to “piecemeal” legislation around the U.S. Postal Service and stimulus relief. “If we can agree on postal, let’s do it. If we can agree on stimulus checks, let’s do it.” Meadows said. “Congress needs to come back and get their act together.” Stimulus negotiations and when they resume.

The Senate adjourned after the House of Representatives, with plans to return September 8th and September 14th, respectively. Legislation around the U.S Postal Service is expected to come after the Democratic National Convention, which kicks off August 17th, and runs through August 20th.  Whenever the stimulus relief negotiations resume, it’s clear that both parties are trying to pass a full bill, even though they’re at odds on what that means. Here are reasons we still think it’ll happen. Both sides want to restart stalled talks. Despite signing four executive actions, earlier this month, President Trump tweeted support for a bill on August 14th, with school reopening on his personal agenda. Trump’s executive orders don’t cover every area. So far, the president’s directives cover a $400 maximum unemployment benefit, examine eviction protections, deferral of student loan payments and a payroll tax cut. The executive orders could take weeks to go into effect. That’s because the states software for distributing unemployment benefits would have to be completely overhauled, and some estimates say that could take 4-6 weeks in some states.