Trump rejects virus aid for cities
Democrats, GOP ‘far apart’ on relief package
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday dismissed Democratic demands for aid to cash-strapped cities in a new coronavirus relief package and lashed out at Republican allies as talks stalemated over assistance for millions of Americans.
Republicans, beset by delays and infighting, signaled a willingness to swiftly approve a modest package to renew a $600 weekly unemployment benefit that is expiring. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., roundly rejected that approach as meager, all but forcing Republicans back to the negotiating table.
“As of now, we’re very far apart,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the White House’s top negotiator.
Stark differences remain between the $3 trillion proposal from Democrats and $1 trillion counter from Republicans putting aid for millions of communities at risk. Money for states and cites is a crucial dividing line as local governments plead for help to shore up budgets and prevent deeper municipal layoffs as they incur COVID-19 costs and struggling economies.
Trump complained about sending “big bailout money” to the nation’s cities, whose mayors he often criticizes.
“It’s a shame to reward badly run radical left Democrats with all of this money they’re looking for,” he said at the White House.
Democrats proposed nearly $1 trillion for the local governments, but Trump and Republicans are resisting sending the states and cities more cash.
Instead, the GOP offers states flexibility to more broadly use an earlier $150 billion allotment that had been restricted to virus-only needs. At one point this year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said states could just declare bankruptcy.
Governors and mayors who have been urging Congress for help, warned the failure to act would hit hard in local communities.
“If Congress fails to dedicate financial assistance to state and local governments, it will force deep cuts to the very programs workers and families need to get back on their feet,” said Tara Lee, spokeswoman for Gov. Jay Inslee, D-Wash.
Most states have built up reserves since the Great Recession and were meeting current revenue expectations before the pandemic stopped swaths of the economy in its tracks in March.
But as the virus took hold, layoffs began. By June, about 1.5 million fewer people were working for governments in the U.S. compared with February, according federal data.