President Donald Trump's positive test for Covid-19 has injected uncertainty into the upcoming election and efforts in the US Congress to approve up to $2.2 trillion of pandemic-related relief.
Trump has "mild symptoms" of the disease but continues to work, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said today. The diagnosis will disrupt Trump's ability to campaign in the last month of a presidential race where he has made energy policy a top issue against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who is leading in most polls. The next debate between the two is scheduled for 15 October.
Biden tested negative for Covid-19 today. Trump's diagnosis has raised concerns over the potential for the undetected spread of Covid-19 to top officials in the government and even to Biden, who debated Trump at an in-person event in Ohio three days ago. It often takes days after exposure before the coronavirus is detectable.
Trump's positive test came hours after Democrats in the US House of Representatives voted to approve a $2.2 trillion pandemic relief package that lacks Republican support. House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said the spread of the virus might cause the administration to be more receptive to reaching a deal.
"This kind of changes the dynamic, because here they see the reality of what we have been saying all along," Pelosi said. "This is a vicious virus."
The House relief bill would include $28bn to avert large-scale airline layoffs that began today, along with payments to many taxpayers, an extension of unemployment aid, subsidies for renewable fuel producers and more than $400bn for states and local governments. The White House has floated a $1.6 trillion relief bill with less aid to states.
"Would you rather have zero, or would you rather have everything you want?" White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow said about the different proposals.
US vice president Mike Pence and US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin tested negative for the virus today, their offices said, but US senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) said he tested positive. Others testing positive include Trump's wife, Melania Trump, and a top aide Hope Hicks.
The recent spread of Covid-19 does not appear to be disrupting the Trump administration's push to quickly confirm appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett to a seat on the US Supreme Court. US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) this morning said it was "full steam ahead" with the nomination.
