WHATEVER NANCY WANTS, NANCY GETS:

The number of coronavirus cases is surging, and congressional leaders are squabbling. It's an ominous foreshadowing of the coming partisan clash over the next relief package.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are straddling opposite sides of a multi-trillion dollar divide, with neither currently willing to budge.

Congressional leaders from both parties privately believe they'll reach a deal at some point: the stakes are too high for the nation's health and economic well-being, not to mention Election Day is quickly approaching. But it may take several weeks of difficult negotiations -- and public posturing -- to strike an accord.

Senate Republicans are expected to unveil their own roughly $1 trillion proposal next week, a plan far narrower than the $3 trillion-plus bill pushed through the House by Democrats two months ago. Apart from cost, the parties are still far apart on key issues, including whether or how to extend a boost in unemployment insurance benefits set to expire in the coming days.

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