Over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined one of the White House’s latest offers in conjuring up a plan for COVID-19 relief. She stated it was “one step forward, two steps back,” but Pelosi is still hopeful they can come to terms on a deal soon.
What We Know:
- The White House provided a new offer after weeks of planning on economic help for those affected by the pandemic. It was presented to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Pelosi spoke on Friday afternoon. President Donald Trump is eager for an agreement before Election Day, even as his most powerful GOP ally in the Senate said Congress is unlikely to deliver relief by then.
- It was reported that the GOP’s newest stimulus plan offer was around $1.8 trillion, and included about $300 million of state and local fiscal relief, up about $50 million from the previous $250 million. The White House stated this is their most recent offer after their previous one was set at $1.6 trillion before this week.
BREAKING: Trump is raising his stimulus offer to Pelosi to $1.8 trillion to seal deal, sources say. Up from $1.6 trillion. Dems have sought $2.2 trillion.
— Erik Wasson (@elwasson) October 9, 2020
- Pelosi gave a COVID-19 relief package proposal of her own two weeks ago and that plan totaled about $2.2 trillion, far greater than what the White House has put on the table recently. Though a majority of the plan was solid, it allegedly included a business tax increase that Republicans were opposed to. On Rush Limbaugh’s radio show Friday, Trump stated that he “would like to see a bigger stimulus package than either the Democrats or Republicans are offering”. Just last week, Trump criticized Democrats for their demands on a new coronavirus relief bill.
- According to the StarTribune, Pelosi sent out a letter to colleagues on Saturday saying that, “this proposal amounted to one step forward, two steps back. When the president talks about wanting a bigger relief package, his proposal appears to mean that he wants more money at his discretion to grant or withhold.”
“Despite these unaddressed concerns, I remain hopeful that yesterday’s developments will move us closer to an agreement on a relief package that addresses the health and economic crisis facing America’s families,” she said.
- She went onto say that although his administration did try to address some of the Democratic concerns, there remained heavy disagreements on several important matters. Democrats now await word on several provisions.
- Moreover, GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had explained to an audience in Kentucky that a deal all parties could agree on doesn’t seem likely to happen soon. He cited the seemingly complicated scenario that’s currently present where most people involved in the negotiations are “elbowing for political advantage”.
McConnell went onto say Friday, “I’d like to see us rise above that like we did in March and April, but I think it’s unlikely in the next three weeks.” He later directed attention to the Supreme Court implying it is “the first item of priority of the Senate”. In few words, he suggested that due to a lack of time, it wouldn’t be possible to do both a relief bill and handle matters revolving around the high court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett before the general election in November.
