The easiest way to do this at present would be to take up the package already being prepared by centrist Democrats in the House, which leaves out the $67 billion for dog yoga or crystal healing or whatever it was the GOP objected to back in May. The $2.4 trillion spending bill will include assistance for airlines, restaurants, and other businesses as well as a second round of direct payments to Americans, probably once more in the amount of $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 for married couples, with an additional $600 per child (with no cap on the latter, thank you)…

What’s the holdup here? I do not think it is Trump himself. If the moratoriums on evictions and student loan interest are any indication, he is perfectly willing to take sweeping, indeed arguably unconstitutional action if he thinks it will redound to his credit. (If only he had announced a debt jubilee and a jobs program as well.) Landlords are probably not thrilled with the president at the moment, but nobody as far as I am aware has any serious objections to a second round of Trump Bucks. He should take the money and run.

Rather than the president or members of his Cabinet, I think the blame for the last few months of inaction belongs to Republicans in Congress. If I didn’t know better, I would swear that these people wanted to see Joe Biden in the White House. How else can you explain the bizarre red lines being drawn by prominent GOP senators around figures like $1.5 (as opposed to 2) trillion? While the nomination of a Supreme Court justice is probably not the best time to pick a fight with his own party over a spending bill, Trump should risk it. With the polls in purple states suggesting an election at least as close as the last one, he has nothing to lose.