The latest coronavirus relief bill proposed by the White House has met with opposition from both Democrats and republicans, dimming the hopes of any aid to families and businesses impacted by the pandemic before Election Day, Reuters reports.
President Trump has been flip-flopping on any relief, at first proposing a limited $1.5 trillion package, then calling off all negotiations, then demanding a “clean bill” for $1,200 relief checks for families, then saying he’d approve airline bail outs. Just yesterday, while doing a two hour stint on Rush Limbaugh’s radio program, Trump called for a relief bill bigger than either Democrats or republicans were proposing.
After passing a $3.5 trillion relief bill through the House in May, Democrats have back a scaled-down $2.2 trillion proposal which includes aid to families, extended federal subsidies for unemployment, and financial assistance to state and local governments.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the latest $1.8 trillion republican proposal is inadequate because it lacks a “strategic plan to crush the virus” and gives Trump too much control over the allocation of funds.
“At this point, we still have disagreement on many priorities, and Democrats are awaiting language from the Administration on several provisions as the negotiations on the overall funding amount continue,” Pelosi’s letter said in her weekly update to Democrats.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is negotiating on behalf of republicans because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been ineffective in uniting his caucus behind a plan, had a 30 minute phone call with Pelosi yesterday to outline the republican counterproposal. Reportedly, the White House demands that any future package come in below $2 trillion.