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McConnell says Senate will vote on new small business relief funding before election

13 October 2020
 Dan Ackermann

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a statement on Tuesday saying that the Senate's "first order of business" when it returns on Oct. 19 will be to vote on "targeted relief for American workers," including new funding for the small business Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Why it matters: House Democrats, Senate Republicans and the Trump administration are still very far apart on key elements of a relief deal, and any push for smaller, more targeted legislation is more of a political maneuver than any thing else.

  • The Senate has largely been left out of the negotiating process between House Speaker Pelosi and the White House, and any deal that results from those conversations will likely not be supported by Senate Republicans.
  • This is McConnell’s way of showing Senate Republicans are still dedicated to some form of coronavirus stimulus, and could serve as a backstop in the event that a new bill is passed in the House that Republicans in the Senate deem unworkable. 

Driving the news: McConnell's statement comes one month after Senate Democrats filibustered a Republican "skinny bill" that focused on school aid, unemployment benefits and assistance for small businesses. Democrats called the package "piecemeal" and said it was "laden with poison pills Republicans know Democrats would never support."

What they're saying: “The PPP is a popular program that has saved tens of millions of American jobs. It is so bipartisan that its first round was replenished and extended several times by unanimous consent in both the Senate and the House," McConnell said in a statement.

  • “Democrats have spent months blocking policies they do not even oppose. They say anything short of their multi-trillion-dollar wish list, jammed with non-COVID-related demands, is “piecemeal” and not worth doing."
  • "Speaker Pelosi frequently says she feels “nothing” is better than “something.” And she has worked hard to ensure that nothing is what American families get."

Meanwhile: President Trump, who called off stimulus negotiations with Democrats last week, tweeted on Tuesday morning, "STIMULUS! Go big or go home!!!" It's unlikely that a package the size that Trump and Democrats are negotiating will win the support of Senate Republicans.

Go deeper: Trump tells House GOP leader he wants a "big deal" on COVID relief

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.