Democrats and the Trump administration were at a stalemate Wednesday over how to resupply the popular Paycheck Protection Program, which helps small businesses cope during the coronavirus pandemic and is due to run out of money as soon as Wednesday night.
As of 9 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, the Small Business Administration had approved 1.5 million applications totaling more than $324 billion of the $349 billion that Congress authorized in last month’s $2.2-trillion coronavirus relief package, according to the agency.Sen. Marco Rubio , chairman of the Senate committee with jurisdiction over small business, said that the program is expected to “grind to a halt” Wednesday evening as it hits its spending limit.
The Paycheck Protection Program has been “so good that it’s almost depleted and we want to replenish it,” he said. “And we can’t get the Democrats to approve it. And that’s a program that they and everyone else admits is great.”House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN on Wednesday that Democrats were trying to ensure that a portion of the funding is set aside for small businesses that need it the most.
The Senate is due to hold a brief session in Washington, during which Republicans and Democrats may try to quickly pass a bill to address the issue., arguing that they’re filling a void left by the Trump administration, which hasn’t released a plan to scale up COVID-19 testing to allow Americans to return to work and school.
The Trump administration hasn’t done enough to develop a testing plan, Democrats say, pointing to a decrease in recorded COVID-19 testing last week. Trump has said repeatedly that he wants the economy to reopen quickly, but has not detailed how he would determine when to do that and how testing might factor into that decision.Reopening society will require an “organized, coordinated and focused plan,” Schumer said. “Not exactly the Trump administration’s strong suits.
The Democrats’ plan — which is a white paper that they are looking to turn into legislation — would require the Trump administration to develop a strategic plan for the nation. It would provide emergency funding to quickly scale up access to testing, including the development of millions of tests and supplies, and a reliable pipeline of production.
Tell it to the governors who by now should know where every abbot and roche machine in their state is.
Chucky I demand that you ask your niece you used when she was popular ( stealing jokes) to stop posting. We don't care she just realized what it is to pick a trendy name for your kids.
Democrats always ' demand'
The American worker demands their $$$ that SpeakerPelosi is blocking. Besides u can test negative one day and be positive 2 days later. All the recommended guidelines R the same.
Easy be a celebrity or athlete