Virus relief deal elusive for Dems, president

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Sunday there’s no deal yet on a new coronavirus relief package as Democrats wait to see whether the Trump administration will agree to terms.

Pelosi spoke a day after President Donald Trump, hospitalized with covid-19, tweeted his support for more stimulus legislation, writing, “WORK TOGETHER AND GET IT DONE.”

Pelosi was asked on CBS News’ Face the Nation if the president’s comment suggested that a deal was in hand or close.

“No, it means that we want to see that they will agree on what we need to do to crush the virus so that we can open the economy and open our schools safely,” Pelosi said.

She did not elaborate, but had said Friday that agreeing on language on how to spend new testing and tracing money remained a sticking point. Democrats have pushed for months for a national testing strategy that the administration never produced.

Pelosi also suggested Friday that Trump’s positive diagnosis could change the dynamic and help speed an agreement in the new round of economic relief talks that restarted about a week ago between her and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Negotiations continued over the weekend, but there was little sign a breakthrough would be imminent. Pelosi asked airlines on Friday to hold off on impending furloughs of tens of thousands of workers pending a deal.

United and American, the major carriers that have threatened furloughs, have said they can reverse them if there is a deal to extend payroll support for the industry that just expired, but Congress must act fast.

“What I said to the airline executives in a public statement is: Don’t fire people; you know that relief is on the way and it will be retroactive, so let’s keep them employed,” Pelosi said Sunday.

As to whether a deal could come together in the coming week, Pelosi said: “It just depends on if they understand what we have to do to crush the virus. You can’t just say we need to do something but we’re going to let the virus run free. Now it’s even run free in the White House.”

Mnuchin’s office had no comment on Pelosi’s remarks.