Stimulus talks continue with little progress

WASHINGTON — White House officials and top congressional Democrats convened critical talks Thursday on a coronavirus relief bill, as bitterness over the negotiations spilled into public view and President Donald Trump threatened to act on his own.

Heading into the evening meeting in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said he hoped to come to agreement with Democrats on the overall price tag of the legislation. If not, Meadows said, “There becomes very little incentive, very little incentive to have further conversations.”

“Compromise has to have a dollar sign in front of it,” Meadows said.

Trump signaled earlier Thursday that absent a deal he will take executive actions on several fronts, including an eviction moratorium and unemployment assistance, as early as Friday.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the White House for setting a deadline and threatening to act alone.

“Meadows wants to have a deadline, or the president — I guess they can. But it wouldn’t be good for the country,” Schumer said.

Asked about the prospect for executive orders, Schumer replied: “Everyone would agree that it’s much better to come to a deal.”

Even before the meeting between Pelosi, Schumer, Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin got underway, tempers were flaring on Capitol Hill.

Pelosi alleged in a television interview that Republicans don’t give “a damn” about those in need, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused Democrats of lying about GOP proposals.

As the process drags on, more than 30 million Americans are about to endure their second week without enhanced unemployment benefits. An eviction moratorium also expired last week, and the small business Paycheck Protection Program is set to expire Saturday.

Meanwhile, relief for certain student loan borrowers is set to expire Sept. 30.

“We’re at an impasse right now,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said before the White House met with Democrats.

Democrats are pushing for a large aid package, but Meadows and Mnuchin favor a smaller deal. Meadows suggested ahead of the meeting that the White House has shown willingness to move higher than their initial $1 trillion starting point, while accusing Democrats of refusing to budge from their $3.4 trillion opening offer.

McConnell said he would keep the Senate in session “unless and until the Democrats demonstrate they will never let an agreement materialize.” But multiple Republican senators said they were heading to their home states and would return if a deal came together.

Illustrating how rapidly things appeared to be devolving, Trump tweeted that he has told staff to prepare for a series of executive actions that can be implemented if no deal is reached.

“Upon departing the Oval Office for Ohio, I’ve notified my staff to continue working on an Executive Order with respect to Payroll Tax Cut, Eviction Protections, Unemployment Extensions, and Student Loan Repayment Options,” he tweeted.

But Trump has reversed course on such threats before.

The evening meeting is expected to be a lengthy negotiating session that could determine whether a near-term deal is possible at all. The same group has been meeting nearly daily for more than a week, with occasional signs of incremental progress but also much public posturing and finger-pointing.

The coronavirus pandemic has hammered the U.S. economy since February, and some of the largest provisions in the $2 trillion Cares Act, which passed in March, have lapsed.

Meanwhile, a new report on jobless claims Thursday found that 1.2 million Americans filed unemployment claims last week, the 20th straight week more than 1 million people have sought aid.

Despite the weak economic conditions and the continued spread of the virus, a compromise has remained distant. In an interview on CNBC on Thursday, Pelosi said Republicans’ refusal to recognize the needs that exist in the country is standing in the way of getting an agreement.

“Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn,” Pelosi said. “That’s the problem. See, the thing is, they don’t believe in governance.”

Speaking on the Senate floor a short time later, McConnell blamed Democrats for the expiration of emergency unemployment benefits, because Democrats objected when Republicans tried last week to renew them on a short-term basis.

“Instead of getting serious, the Democratic leaders have chosen instead to misrepresent and even lie about what’s at stake,” McConnell said.