Coronavirus: Hurdles await Congress next month if talks towards a fifth relief bill start

Don't expect a fifth Covid-19 economic aid package from Congress until late June, writes Washington Bureau Chief John T Bennett

Congress will not even begin discussing a possible fifth relief bill until early next month. EPA (EPA)

Let the actual negotiating begin – maybe – now that House Democrats have passed a $3trn coronavirus relief bill that is headed nowhere but a bookshelf in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office.

Without any Republican support, the Democratic-run chamber returned to Washington on Friday to approve a measure Republican leader Kevin McCarthy says was crafted entirely without GOP input.

The speaker acknowledged as much late last week, calling the massive Covid-19 relief measure little more than a "marker" for future negotiations towards what would be the fifth emergency coronavirus package, if it ever comes today, that would have been approved by both chambers and signed into law by Donald Trump.