Washington, DC, is living on a knife's edge in anticipation of yet another Covid-19 relief package. While the $600 federal enhancement to weekly unemployment benefits and a federal eviction moratorium may lapse on July 31, leaving millions of Americans in the lurch, it's increasingly unlikely that an agreement will be reached before then.
Now, with Senate Republicans releasing their proposal -- the HEALS Act -- on Monday afternoon, it's clear that President Donald Trump, who has long touted his own negotiation skills, has already made major concessions, including sacrificing his payroll tax cut and agreeing to additional billions for coronavirus testing.
As these negotiations continue, millions of Americans are suffering from both the economic and health toll of the pandemic. And despite splits within the party, Republicans are keenly aware that their prospects for holding onto power are diminishing each day.
This bill may be their last opportunity to turn things around ahead of the fall elections and offer some sense of normalcy. As such, they seem to be prioritizing what they think voters will care most about, which Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander recently framed as getting kids back to school and parents back to work.
It's hardly a surprise Senate Republicans are taking such a firm approach. They, like me, have experienced Trump's inability to constructively negotiate on behalf of the American people -- and they know they cannot afford another misfire from the White House so close to November.
As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee and chairman of the Military Construction/Veterans Subcommittee from 2015 to 2018, I had an inside look at government dysfunction, which was especially pronounced after the tea party made sweeping gains in the 2010 midterm elections and a number of deficit hawks entered Congress with little to no desire to compromise.
Given this experience, it is hard for me to imagine how things could have gotten much worse. But they have. Sure, democracy can be messy and inefficient. Trump, however, has taken dysfunction to new heights with his disruptive, erratic behavior and chaotic approach to governing. While Trump can bluster his way through press briefings and make sweeping pronouncements on Twitter, he has repeatedly failed to negotiate and cobble together enough votes when it comes to legislating.
If you need proof, consider his failures on three high-profile occasions: his 2017 attempt to repeal and replace Obamacare; Trump's U-turn on spending in the 2018 Omnibus Appropriations Bill; and the 35-day government shutdown over border wall funding in late 2018 and early 2019.
First, while reforming the nation's health care system requires shrewd negotiating skills, presidential leadership matters more. Trump repeatedly slammed Obamacare on the campaign trail in 2016, but after an election victory that also ushered in GOP majorities in both the House and Senate, Trump failed to offer up a comprehensive plan on health care. Yes
