Trump remains silent on Covid-relief package as deal eludes congressional leaders

'Truth be told I don't think POTUS has much to say about the final package,' former GOP Senate aide says

The "big four" congressional leaders have made demands and taken criticism for months over a Covid-19 relief package they all say is needed but remains elusive. But one man with the biggest bullhorn in town has remained on the sidelines of the negotiations: Donald Trump.

Senate leaders are being noticeably careful in their floor remarks so far this week, seemingly trying at once to commit to nothing their caucuses will oppose while also purposely trying to keep some kind of possible deal on the table. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday morning described 2020 as a year of "hope tinged by grief."

The same goes for this six-month-old round of coronavirus economic stimulus negotiations.

As recently as last week, members of both parties were talking hopefully of a deal before the Senate later this week joins the House on a two-week holiday seasons recess. Headlines populated users' Twitter feeds about hopes for a bipartisan package to help struggling businesses and families "rising."

Yet, even a proposal meticulously crafted by a group of mostly Senate Republican and Democratic moderates that had been seen as the only game in town to at least be the basis of a compromise seems to be growing legislative mold. Time is growing short and talks have yet to produce a breakthrough as congressional leaders talk to themselves and Mr Trump's designated lead negotiator, Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin.

Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin, a member of the moderate group, went to the Senate floor on Tuesday morning to announce the fate of the alliance's now-split package rests in the hands of leadership. Mr Schumer has spoken positively about it this week, but has yet to give it a full-throated endorsement.

Instead, he used his session-opening speech to hail the Monday deployment of the first coronavirus vaccine while also urging his colleagues to provide the funding needed to distribute it to millions of Americans. "Our job now is to ensure that the good work of America's scientists, biochemicallists and medical research is brought to bear," he said. "That given the tools we stamp out Covid-19 from our country and being the road to recovery."

"We need to fully fund not only the function of the vaccine, but the distribution, as well," the top Democrat said, notably not criticising Republicans nor Mr Mnuchin for their handling of the long-stalled talks.

But Mr Schumer also did not announce his side would drop some of its demands that have kept a deal from forming, especially a call for hundreds of millions of dollars for cash-strapped state and local governments.

Likewise, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has yet to do so. She also has not pressed Mr McConnell to put the part of the moderates' proposal that drops the GOP's top demand of Covid-related liability safeguards for companies and her party's local government aid on his chamber's floor for an up-or-down vote, ensuring him she has the votes to send it on to Mr Trump's desk.

Meantime, Mr Trump is holed up inside the White House, seething after his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden. That level of upset likely grew on Tuesday morning, when Mr McConnell took to the Senate floor and told the world -- six weeks later -- that the president lost the election.

"The Electoral College has spoken," Mr McConnell said. "So today I want to congratulate Joe Biden. The president-elect is no stranger to the Senate. He's devoted himself to public service for many years. I also want to congratulate the vice president, and our colleague from California, Senator [Kamala] Harris."

Lost leverage?

That marked the end of the majority leader's backing of the outgoing president's legal challenges of the 2020 race, which has seemed Mr Trump's sole focus since Mr Biden was projected the winner on 9 November. When pressed by reporters during one of his increasingly rare gaggles, the president has called on Congress to go "big" with a pre-holiday coronavirus relief measure.

He even has broken with Mr McConnell and other Republicans by backing a new round of stimulus checks for Americans, especially hard-hit families. That, paradoxically, aligns the conservative Mr Trump with liberal icon Bernie Sanders. The Vermont independent who was again the Democratic runner-up for the party's presidential nomination last week stood aside in his blocking of a stopgap spending measure that averted a government shutdown while warning he won't do so again unless stimulus checks get a vote before Friday night.

Mr Trump's tweets have shaped the agenda and frustrated Republicans and Democrats in Washington since he took office. But that merely shows their power.

So it is telling that the president has not fired off one post this week demanding Congress send him a coronavirus recovery bill by Friday night. Instead, his tweets have focused on his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and one Monday evening announcing the resignation of his onetime favorite Cabinet member, Attorney General William Barr.

"Tremendous evidence pouring in on voter fraud. There has never been anything like this in our Country!" Mr Trump wrote at 10:41 a.m. ET, about a half hour after Mr McConnell broke with him on live television.

Several White House officials did not respond to an inquiry about whether the president is considering getting involved in the talks.

But one former senior Senate aide questions whether the president has enough remaining leverage to bring a deal home.

"Truth be told I don't think POTUS has much to say about the final package," said G William Hoagland, a former aide to then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, "except with a threat to veto, which I think would easily be overturned."