Confusion reigns on stimulus discussion
WASHINGTON — On Tuesday, the bipartisan stimulus talks were off, abruptly ended by a series of indignant tweets by President Donald Trump. On Wednesday, there was a glimmer of hope when he suggested he might reconsider, and top negotiators haggled privately by phone over possible legislation.
By Thursday, the president performed a complete about-face and suggested that a deal could be at hand — then turned around and derided House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, the top Democrat in the discussions, as “Crazy Nancy.” Pelosi, for her part, teased the announcement Friday of legislation establishing a commission to advise Congress on whether the president should be forcibly removed from office for mental or physical impairments.
As tens of millions of Americans, schools and businesses watched the flurry of developments that could determine whether they would receive another infusion of desperately needed pandemic relief, confusion reigned in Washington about whether an elusive stimulus compromise was dead, alive, on life support or somewhere in between.
“The discussion from day to day can be confusing for all of us to follow,” Sen. Mitch Mcconnell of Kentucky, the majority leader and the top Republican on Capitol Hill, told reporters at an event in Kentucky. “But we’re still engaging and hoping we can find a way forward.”
Days earlier, Mcconnell had privately suggested to the president that Pelosi’s demands for a compromise would be too costly for many Republicans to embrace.
A number of moderate Republicans in both chambers have criticized the end of negotiations and urged leaders to reach a compromise.
In separate appearances Thursday, Trump and Pelosi insisted that talks were continuing, with the president suggesting that negotiators were now discussing $1,200 stimulus checks in addition to a potential aid measure for airlines to prevent tens of thousands of workers from being furloughed or laid off.
The speaker, for her part, ruled out the prospect of voting on a stand-alone aid package for airlines without a commitment that the Trump administration would agree to a broader pandemic relief plan, declaring that “there is no stand-alone bill without a bigger bill.”
Behind the scenes, private talks between Pelosi, top Democrats and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continued to hold out the prospect that an agreement could be reached. But Pelosi had told Mnuchin that her willingness to consider an airline rescue measure was contingent on the administration’s agreement to a broader stimulus plan.
Thursday afternoon, Mnuchin told the speaker that the president was indeed interested in a broader package, Drew Hammill, her spokesperson, wrote on Twitter. But Alyssa Farah, the White House communications director, was rejecting that idea, telling reporters that the president was interested in a “skinny” bill.