McConnell urged White House not to strike deal
Pelosi, Mnuchin continue to talk stimulus package
The Senate majority leader worries there won’t be enough GOP votes on a stimulus bill. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi backed away from her Tuesday deadline for negotiations.
Talks “provided more clarity and common ground as they move closer to an agreement.” Drew Hammill Spokesperson for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a closeddoor lunch Tuesday, told fellow Republicans he urged the White House not to strike a deal with Democrats on a COVID-19 relief package, according to a Senate source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The Kentucky Republican, who has blasted Democrats in negotiations, voiced concerns there would not be enough GOP votes to back a package and worries that voting on such legislation could negatively affect the timing on Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation vote to the Supreme Court, the source said.
Republicans disagree about the size and details of an aid bill. Some Republicans rejected Democratic offers they said are too costly and will add to the federal deficit, though President Donald Trump has pushed for Republicans to offer even more than Democrats.
Republicans in the Senate are set to take up a $500 billion plan Wednesday that would reauthorize small business loans, reissue a federal boost to unemployment benefits, send more than $100 billion to schools and allocate funding for testing and vaccine development. The price tag of that bill is much lower than the roughly $1.8 trillion offered by the White House this month and the $2.2 trillion package Democrats put forward.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the secondranking Senate Republican, said Monday “it would be hard” to get enough Republicans to support a bill at $1.8 trillion. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said Tuesday, “I don’t support something of that level.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continue to negotiate a bill.
Pelosi and Mnuchin talked by phone Tuesday, and Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill said their conversation “provided more clarity and common ground as they move closer to an agreement.” They plan to speak more Wednesday. Pelosi backed away from her own deadline, which called on the two sides to reach a deal by Tuesday if they wanted relief legislation by Election Day. Pelosi said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday her ultimatum was not actually a deadline to have a deal but “the day where we would have our terms on the table, to be able to go to the next step.”
The artificial deadline, Hammill said, spurred negotiations and showed “both sides are serious about finding a compromise.”
The bill might not be passed until after the election. “We could still continue the negotiations,” Pelosi said. “It might not be finished by Election Day.”
Although the parties were close to resolving policy differences on COVID-19 testing provisions, Pelosi said there are two outstanding differences. One involves the amount of aid for state and local governments, which Republicans say would amount to bailouts for mismanaged governments if too much is allocated, and the other is over COVID-19 liability protections for businesses, a provision opposed by Democrats.
Pushing the negotiations until after the elections means both parties would not restart negotiations until the “lame duck” session of Congress.