Jobless-benefit impa$$e

WH chief: Dems shot down deals

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows lashed into Democrats on Friday morning for rejecting what he said were four different offers to extend the $600-per-week federal unemployment benefit that was set to expire that night.

Appearing in the White House briefing room after a week of fruitless negotiations with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Meadows accused Democrats of abandoning Americans.

“Those four different offers have been actually rejected — but more importantly than that, they’ve not even been countered,” Meadows said.

“The Democrats are certainly willing today to allow some of the American citizens who are struggling the most with this pandemic to go unprotected.”

Expanded unemployment benefits introduced in March at the peak of the coronavirus crisis were to expire at the end of Friday at midnight after Republicans and Democrats failed to reach a deal before the Senate adjourned on Thursday.

One of the offers reportedly made was a four-month extension approved by President Trump at the current rate of $600 per week, ensuring that the more than 25 million Americans now receiving jobless benefits would be protected until December.

Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Schumer (D-NY) rejected that deal, Meadows said. Democrats want the $600 benefit to last until the first quarter of 2021.

Pelosi, meanwhile, said the failed negotiations were simply part of the legislative process.

“We don’t have shared values. That’s just the way it is. So it’s not bickering — it’s standing our ground,” Pelosi said on Friday.

“We put forth what we think is urgently needed by the American people because we recognize the gravity of the situation,” she said. “They don’t, and that’s why they’re like, ‘What? Food?’ ”

But Pelosi faced pushback for trying to stuff unrelated items, including as funding for marijuana businesses into the latest Democratic aid package.

“I don’t agree with you that cannabis is not related to this,” she said, calling the drug “a therapy that has proven successful.”

The White House and Republicans have been pushing for a large reduction to the jobless payouts, with a GOP proposal seeking to slash it to $200 per week.

“What we’re seeing is politics as usual from Democrats on Capitol Hill,” Meadows said Friday morning.

“The Democrats believe they have all the cards on their side, and they’re willing to play those cards at the expense of those who are hurt.”

The White House this week dispatched Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to Capitol Hill to negotiate with Democrats on a fourth stimulus package.

But the two sides are far apart ideologically. Democrats want a $3 trillion bill, while Republicans are eager to cap it at $1 trillion.

Meadows said he, Pelosi, Schumer and Mnuchin would reconvene on Saturday morning.