J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks about a coronavirus aid package, at the Capitol in Washington, March 13, 2020
You may recall from high school civics class that the Constitution requires revenue measures to originate in the House. So why do Mitch McConnell and the Republican-controlled Senate get to control the agenda on successive economic-relief measures, with the Democratic House tacking on modest improvements only afterward?
It turns out that Pelosi doesn’t want to have to call the House into session, partly because of legitimate concerns of risks to members’ health. But nor does she want to permit remote voting, for fear of setting a precedent once the pandemic is over—members not showing up because it’s more convenient to vote remote.
So the choreography calls for McConnell moving first, Pelosi and Chuck Schumer negotiating for improvements afterward, on the premise that the House can act only if she gets either unanimous consent or an overwhelming voice vote in a half-empty, socially distanced chamber. Talk about dealing yourself a weak hand.
It’s not rocket science to devise a system for secure remote voting—the same thing Democrats are demanding for the November election, but with far fewer people. Nor is it rocket science to strictly limit the emergency rules, say for 90 days.
The list of demands put forth by Pelosi and Schumer in their current negotiations with McConnell is also too feeble. They are mainly demanding more funding, which is good, but the convoluted system for getting the aid out needs to be reformed as well.
Congress also needs to drastically increase the oversight of the Fed, including statutory requirements to disclose names of beneficiaries of Wall Street bailouts, as well as the terms, which the Fed is keeping confidential. And Congress needs to legislate an oversight panel for the bailouts, fully independent of Trump.
The Fed is expected to ultimately pump about $9 trillion into capital markets, most of it to financial players and not to regular people. If Congress doesn’t get serious, about both financing relief and governing its terms, there will be one branch of government—the Federal Reserve.
