The federal government made history in March when it enacted a $2.2 trillion stimulus package that included an unprecedented expansion of unemployment benefits and a $349 billion program for small-business lending.
The law was the third relief package during the coronavirus pandemic — but it might not have been enough.
In mid-May, House Democrats passed a fourth stimulus package to the tune of $3 trillion, after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had been an early voice saying that the massive third package needed a successor. She advocated another round of direct payments to Americans like the $1,200 checks sent to people under the March law.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a floor speech on May 12, the day the House bill was introduced, that it had "no chance of becoming law," Business Insider reported. By the end of July, the third package had lapsed and McConnell, Pelosi, and the Trump White House could not agree on a replacement, a situation that persisted into the second week of August. Trump acted unilaterally over the weekend, signing executive actions on unemployment, among other things, that may be neither effective nor constitutional.
The outbreak of the coronavirus, which has infected more than 5 million Americans, closed nonessential businesses in most states — including many in hospitality and food services — and led to a record number of jobless claims: more than 55 million over 20 weeks.
As the economy largely reopened in May, and the May and June jobs reports showed signs of recovery, the Republican position was to wait and see if another would be necessary, and, when that became obvious, they have offered to go smaller than the last package
The sudden spike in reported coronavirus cases in late June threatened that momentum, though, with the US setting new record highs for daily cases in July. McConnell is one of the main negotiators of the stimulus, but his position has changed over time.
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