Headline RoundupNovember 6th, 2020

What To Expect From This Year's 'Lame Duck' Congress

US Congress, US Senate, US House, 2020 Election, Coronavirus, Government Shutdown, Politics

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Congress will reconvene this month to tackle major issues following an election that unseated some current members. Both major parties have discussed passing a COVID-19 coronavirus relief package before the end of the year, despite past statements that relief would come in 2021. Congress also needs to fund the government ahead of the December 11 deadline to avoid another shutdown. Furthermore, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that Republicans would "clean the plate" on federal judge confirmations. The Senate and House are scheduled to return on November 9 and 16, respectively. Coverage came mostly from center- and left-rated outlets and mainly focused on COVID-19 relief negotiations. Coverage in right-rated outlets focused more on Nancy Pelosi and Democrats' election performance.

Featured Coverage of this Story

From the Left

Mitch McConnell says he’s open to stimulus during lame duck — but there are a lot of wild cards

Vox

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Vox

Analysis

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, after previously suggesting stimulus could wait until 2021, is now saying he’d back a package this year.

“As I’ve said repeatedly in the last few months, we need another rescue package,” McConnell said Wednesday. “Hopefully the partisan passions that prevented us from doing another rescue package will subside with the election. … I think we need to do it before the end of the year.”

Does that mean stimulus is actually coming in 2020 for the 21.5 million Americans still receiving unemployment insurance, the cities...

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From the Center

'Lame duck' U.S. Congress to grapple with coronavirus aid, budget bills

Reuters

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Reuters

News

The push in the U.S. Congress for a major new coronavirus aid bill got a post-election boost on Wednesday when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put his weight behind passage by the end of this year and opened the door to considering a key Democratic priority.

While candidates elected to the Senate and U.S. House of Representatives will not be sworn in until Jan. 3, the Congress that has been in business since January 2019, will return to Washington next week for a “lame duck” session that is expected to...

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From the Right

Pelosi still resistant to scaled-down coronavirus relief deal, calls for negotiations to restart

Washington Times

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Washington Times

News

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she wants to restart negotiations for a comprehensive coronavirus relief bill, but she still isn’t interested in adopting a scaled-down approach.

“We want the Republicans to come back to the table,” Mrs. Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press conference.

Despite her expectations that Democratic nominee Joseph R. Biden, who is leading in the presidential vote count, will win, Mrs. Pelosi said a relief bill can’t wait for a Democrat in the White House.

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