Senate Republicans Could Give A Fuck If We Die

Photo: Stefan Zaklin / Stringer (Getty Images)

In news that is not surprising, but is incredibly grim, the Senate has left for their August recess without coming to an agreement about a fifth coronavirus relief package—meaning that it will likely be several weeks, if not a month, before any legislation is passed.

The recess was actually supposed to begin last week, but majority leader Mitch McConnell kept the chamber in session this week in an attempt to give extra time for the Trump administration and Congressional Democrats to reach a compromise. However, with negotiations at a stalemate, senators argued that there’s little reason for them to keep holding daily sessions. Apparently, the rapidly rising number of covid-19 cases in states across the country isn’t pressing to them! How silly of us to assume they might care about keeping their constituents alive, or at the very least about the state of the U.S. economy.

If congressional Democrats, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows are able to break the impasse, the senators will be given 24 hours to return for a vote. Otherwise, they will not formally reconvene until September 8th. At this point, it seems unlikely an agreement will be reached before then—apparently, the four key negotiators have not met in person since last Friday. On Tuesday, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley predicted that if negotiations didn’t resume by Thursday, the Trump Administration’s executive orders would be the only action that takes place until September.