Trump casts doubt on a stimulus deal

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday said a bipartisan, multitrillion-dollar stimulus deal before Election Day looked doubtful, as Senate Republicans continued to balk at an emerging compromise they called too costly and politically fraught.

Even as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and top White House officials said they were continuing to narrow their differences on a plan to help Americans and businesses struggling amid the pandemic, Trump appeared ready to blame Democrats for the demise of a compromise.

“Just don’t see any way Nancy Pelosi and (Senate Minority Leader) Cryin’ Chuck Schumer will be willing to do what is right for our great American workers, or our wonderful USA itself, on Stimulus,” the president tweeted. “Their primary focus is BAILING OUT poorly run (and high crime) Democrat cities and states.”

He appeared to be referring to a sticking point in the talks over aid to state and local governments. Democrats are insisting on providing $500 billion, while the White House has offered half of that amount.

Yet Republicans presented an additional obstacle to the enactment of a relief measure.

Trump’s tweet came not long after his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said Republican senators had grown suspicious of Pelosi’s tactics and were “starting to get to a point where they believe that she is not negotiating in a fair and equitable manner.”

Later, a nearly one-hour conversation between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin brought the pair “closer to being able to put pen to paper to write legislation,” a spokesman for Pelosi said.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats blocked a Republican plan that would provide $500 billion in aid, reviving lapsed federal unemployment benefits and a popular federal loan program for small businesses.

Schumer said the package, which did not include another round of stimulus checks or money for state and local governments, “leaves so many Americans behind.”

In a party-line vote of 5144, it failed to clear the necessary 60-vote threshold to advance, with all Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.