House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) signaled that the prospect of a stimulus deal materializing before the Nov. 3 election is dim and blamed the White House for failing to reach an agreement.
Her comments follow President Donald Trump telling reporters that after Election Day, “we will get the best stimulus package you have ever seen. ... I think we are going to take back the House because of” Pelosi.
Over the past several months, Trump has repeatedly called for direct stimulus payments of $1,200, unemployment, benefits, and funding for airlines. The president has also taken executive action and authorized additional unemployment benefits, student loan relief, and an eviction moratorium, among other measures.
Trump and his White House negotiators have been reluctant to support the House Democrat-passed HEROES Act because it would provide hundreds of billions of dollars in aid for cities and states. Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have described those proposals as too expensive and would be tantamount to bailing those municipalities out.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other GOP senators have said they would not support the measure and offered two smaller packages, which were blocked by Democrats.
During last week’s presidential debate, Trump said that Pelosi doesn’t want a stimulus deal done before the election because it could bolster his reelection chances.
“The President’s words only have meaning if he can get Mitch McConnell to take his hand off the pause button,” Pelosi said in her letter. “This week, we continue to put pen to paper, with thanks to our Committee Chairs for their mastery of the legislation and loyalty to America’s working families.”
The first round of stimulus legislation was passed in March with the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which authorized $1,200 stimulus payments, small business loans, expanded unemployment payments, and more. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic has led to millions of job losses due to state and local shutdowns and other initiatives to curb the spread of the virus.
“In all of our legislation, we have stressed the importance of testing, but the administration has never followed through,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to lawmakers on Oct. 26, again blaming the GOP for refusing to budge. “The Republicans’ continued surrender to the virus—particularly amid the recent wave of cases—is official malfeasance.”
After speaking on a near-daily basis for weeks, Pelosi and Munchin didn’t communicate on Oct. 27, according to Pelosi aide Drew Hammill. It’s not clear when negotiations will restart.
White House communications director Alyssa Farah told Fox News that the Trump administration hopes it can reach a deal with Democrats “within weeks.”
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