WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that adopting a COVID-19 aid program before the election would be “difficult. “
“I would say at this point that it would be difficult to do something before the election and execute it, given where we are,” he told the Milken Institute global conference.
The Republican-controlled Senate is expected to act on a $500 billion relief proposal next week, an amount rejected by Congressional Democrats for being unsuitable to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. who clinged tightly to their $2. 2 trillion proposal.
“There are cash problems, but there are also policy issues,” Mnuchin said, adding that the Trump administration supported independent “immediate assistance” spending for small business loans and airline assistance as negotiations on a broader package continue.
Both sides are in trouble such as the amount of aid for state and local governments or the amount of cash to be paid to a federal unemployment benefit.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat for California, and Mnuchin spoke on the phone for about an hour wednesday morning, and Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill called him “productive. “
One of the main problems of word warfare between the two sides is the “need for a national strategic control plan,” Hammill said. Pelosi, the Democratic negotiating leader with Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, plans to speak to Mnuchin on Thursday.
More: Nancy Pelosi calls CNN’s Wolf Blitzer an ‘apologist’ of the ‘republican position’ in an interview
More: McConnell says Senate will vote on $500 billion coronavirus plan before Election Day, as Trump tells GOP to ‘do it or come home’
Pelosi criticized through democrats for refusing to give in to the proposal.
Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat for California, a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, suggested democrats settle for the $1. 8 trillion White House deal and rely on it if Democrats win the White House in November, to leave before the election without an agreement in hand. .
“I’d rather (voters) get an increase check, hire help than anything,” Khanna said on CNN Wednesday morning.
I agree. Through difficult negotiations, we forced the White House to accept truly broad state and local aid, nutritional aid, etc. Let’s see if Trump takes this deal seriously, and if getting a court decision is more vital to McConnell than helping people. https://t. co/Q99etJ6yE6