No deal on stimulus until after election, Trump says
Pelosi says White House in ‘complete disarray’
House speaker criticizes president’s rejection of Democrats’ latest offer on relief bill.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump put an end to months of negotiations over a COVID-19 relief package Tuesday, rejecting the Democrats’ latest offer and saying he wanted to postpone negotiations until after the November election.
In a Tuesday afternoon tweet, Trump said Democrats were “not negotiating in good faith.” He told Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to instead “focus full time” on confirming Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
“I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business,” Trump tweeted.
The president’s rejection and insistence on restarting negotiations after Nov. 3 mean both parties head into a crucial election without more relief for Americans struggling as a result of the pandemic, which has led to unprecedented levels of unemployment and caused businesses to suffer as states impose social distancing measures.
In a statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Trump had put his interests above the country’s and said he was “unwilling to crush the virus.”
“Clearly, the White House is in complete disarray,” she said.
Hours before Trump spiked the talks, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell urged Congress to pass more relief, saying inadequate support would weaken recovery from the current recession.
Markets, which had been bolstered by the hopes of a deal, plunged after Trump’s announcement. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 376 points, or 1.3%, to 27,773 after rising about 200 points earlier on expectations for an agreement. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 48 points, or 1.4%, at 3,361 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.6% to 11,155.
The president ended negotiations the day after he returned to the White House Monday evening after spending three days at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he was being treated for COVID-19. He faced heavy criticism Monday for telling Americans not to fear the virus, saying “Don’t let it dominate your life.”
House Democrats were holding a call as Trump tweeted that negotiations on another bill were being halted, according to a Democratic aide that spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations. Pelosi had spent part of the call telling fellow Democrats that she was planning to speak with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin later Tuesday and that the biggest hurdle was funding for state and local governments, the aide said.
After Trump’s tweet, Pelosi responded on the conference call by questioning whether Trump’s use of steroids to treat COVID-19 was affecting his thinking, according to a Capitol Hill source who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss the call contents.
Trump was given a number of therapeutics and medications during his three-night stay at the Walter Reed medical center, including dexamethasone – a steroid that has shown promise in improving survival outcomes in COVID-19 patients.
But like other steroids, the drug may cause some severe side effects, such as new or worsening diabetes, as well as psychosis or emotional disturbance.
Along with the drug, Trump received a single 8-gram dose of Regeneron’s polyclonal antibody cocktail on Friday as a precautionary measure. He also has received several rounds of remdesivir therapy and has taken zinc, vitamin D, famotidine, melatonin and a daily aspirin, doctors said.
Forty-five minutes after Trump posted his tweet, Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke “briefly” on the phone again, and Mnuchin told Pelosi Trump had “walked away” from the talks, said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill.
The collapse of negotiations “puts the American economy at risk of a double-dip recession” and “flies in the face of new recommendations from the Federal Reserve and IMF,” said Josh Lipsky, director of programs and policy at the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center and a former senior advisor at the International Monetary Fund.
Restaurants, which had also been holding out hope for relief as many remained shuttered by coronavirus-related restrictions, also expressed dismay.
The Independent Restaurant Coalition, representing restaurant owners and chefs, warned that without more aid, “even more of our neighborhood restaurants will go out of business.”
Congress hasn’t approved additional coronavirus relief since March, when both chambers came to bipartisan compromises on a handful of bills that totaled more than $3 trillion, including one-time $1,200 checks to Americans and a $600 weekly unemployment boost. But most of that relief dried up, including a loan forgiveness program for small businesses called the Paycheck Protection Program. Airlines have warned of mass layoffs and furloughs after their billions of dollars in federal payroll assistance expired.
The latest bill that received bipartisan support was passed in July and did not include more funds, but rather an extension that offered small businesses more time to apply for federal loans under the Paycheck Protection Program.
After negotiations fell apart in August, Trump issued several executive orders aimed at providing relief. But negotiations stalemated as both sides remained unable to agree on issues like the amount of the federal boost to unemployment insurance and state and local funding. Republicans argued the unemployment benefit could work as a disincentive to working.
McConnell, who predicted a deal was close going into the weekend, told reporters he supported Trump’s decision.
“I think (Trump’s) view was that they were not going to produce a result and we need to concentrate on what’s achievable,” he said.
Trump’s stance to end negotiations could be a gamble for both him and congressional Republicans just four weeks before Election Day. Senate Republicans hold a 53-47 majority and polling suggests Democrats have a chance of taking several seats and with it, the majority in the chamber.
Republicans have blamed Democratic leadership for the lapse in aid and the impasse over future relief, but now their party’s top leader is publicly spiking discussions over another bill.
The collapse of negotiations “puts the American economy at risk of a double-dip recession. ” Josh Lipsky Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center