Obstruction by congressional Democrats of a coronavirus relief package risks a political backlash as voters give President Trump positive marks for his management of the pandemic.
The $2 trillion economic rescue legislation was finally moving on Capitol Hill Tuesday after Senate Democrats negotiated concessions with Republicans and the White House, offering hope to racked financial markets and an anxious public. But House Democrats were threatening to block the measure in a bid to leverage the coronavirus crisis to win passage of long-sought-after liberal priorities.
With the economy in free fall and a majority of voters approving of Trump’s handling of the pandemic, Democrats are in danger of overplaying their hand.
“Democrats in particular seem to be losing the optics as they have repeatedly and overtly blocked procedural votes and have tried to add pieces to the legislation that have little to nothing to do with the pandemic,” said Jeff Brauer, a political scientist at Keystone College in Pennsylvania. “If these optics continue, it will only serve to assist Trump and the Republicans.”
Democratic insiders say party leaders were willing to risk blowback because they had learned the lessons of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, legislation rushed through Congress in 2008 to prevent a global financial meltdown. Necessary or not, many voters on the Left and Right resented TARP because they believed it favored Wall Street over the middle class. Democrats think that without these changes, they could be buying into an unpopular bill.
Asked for comment, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer referred the Washington Examiner to this comment from the New York Democrat from Monday: “This bill is going to affect this country and the lives of Americans, not just for the next few days, but in the next few months and years, so we have to make sure it is good.”
In five recent public opinion polls, Trump’s ratings for his response to the coronavirus were 49%, 50%, 55%, 56%, and 60%. In a daily tracking poll conducted by a Democratic firm, 53% of voters surveyed said they approved of the president’s approach to the pandemic.
Republicans are convinced the political hit to Democrats will outlast the crisis, arguing they have been recalcitrant amid a public health calamity that has shuttered thousands of businesses and left millions of people unemployed.
“The only thing they accomplished is delaying aid to Americans and, ultimately, once we recover, none of their behavior will be forgotten,” said Josh Holmes, a Republican operative who advises Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
They point to the 2002 midterm elections, the first national contest after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as an example of what could await Democrats this November. Eighteen years ago, Republicans won seats in Congress after Democrats waged an unpopular and unsuccessful battle to force President George W. Bush to allow new homeland security personnel to unionize.
Some Democrats, wary of their party’s decision to play hardball in negotiations, say there is a difference between germane concessions won by Schumer and the wish list sought for the current bill by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.
Schumer said Democrats secured changes such as tighter controls on how corporations spend government relief funds and the appropriation of more subsidies for hospitals and other healthcare infrastructure. In the House, Democrats are pitching higher emission standards for struggling airlines that accept federal assistance plus new regulations requiring states to offer early voting and same-day registration.
“It’s fine as a way to lay down some markers for the future, when Congress debates additional efforts to side the economy,” said Democratic operative Jim Manley of the House Democratic proposals. “But, for right now, it’s not going anywhere. The goal needs to be to get the Senate package voted on in both bodies as soon as possible.”
The stock market soared more than 2,100 points on Tuesday, anticipating Senate passage of a $2 trillion bill.
Some political analysts, and even some Republicans, doubt congressional infighting in March will matter much in the fall.
With the relief package poised to pass, long-term political risk to the Democrats should be alleviated, said GOP strategist Alex Conant. “Both sides will claim a win, and markets will approve,” he said. Plus, added elections prognosticator Larry Sabato, the news cycle moves too fast for any story, impeachment, for instance, to make a permanent impression on voters, especially a story about congressional dysfunction.
“We’ve seen this movie a hundred times before,” said Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
