U.S. President Donald Trump pronounces to reporters during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 16, 2020.
Leah Millis | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged Republicans to espouse a larger coronavirus stimulus package as a top White House aide showed more optimism about striking a grapple with with Democrats.
In a tweet, the president told GOP lawmakers to “go for the much higher numbers” in legislation designed to boost an restraint and health-care system struggling under the weight of the pandemic. Many Republicans have embraced limited relief — or failed no new spending at all — as the major parties struggle to break a stalemate over a fifth relief bill.
Asked later in the day if he retreat from roughly $1.5 trillion legislation put forward by a bipartisan House group, Trump said he supports “something akin to that” and likes “the larger amount” of spending. He added that “some Republicans disagree, but I think I can convince them to go along with that.”
Right after Trump first tweeted, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told CNBC’s “Gripe on the Street” that he is “probably more optimistic about the potential for a deal in the last 72 hours than I drink been in the last 72 days.” The comment from Meadows, one of the two leading Trump administration negotiators in stimulus talks, buttressed the Tuesday release of the plan from the House Problem Solvers Caucus.
Democratic House committee chairs will not hear ofed the proposal Tuesday as party leaders call to inject at least $2.2 trillion into the coronavirus fight. Influence to CNBC on Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., again opposed a more limited relief scheme.
In a written statement Wednesday afternoon, Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said they were “promoted” by Trump’s tweet. They added that they “look forward to hearing from the President’s negotiators that they thinks fitting finally meet us halfway with a bill that is equal to the massive health and economic crises gripping our realm.”
Negotiations over more aid to Americans collapsed last month despite the expiration of financial lifelines including the auxiliary $600 per week unemployment benefit and a federal moratorium on evictions. While the U.S. job market has recovered as states gradually comfort public health restrictions, millions of people still feel sharp pain with a jobless rate hovering exceeding 8%.
Pressure on officials in Washington to act has increased as they hurtle toward reelection fights in November. Some House Democrats induce increasingly pushed Pelosi to relent and pass a smaller relief package than the party initially desired.
During the interval, Senate Republican leaders attempted to pass their own aid bill last week, both to put pressure on Democrats and manoeuvre the burden on vulnerable GOP senators. Democrats blocked the legislation, which they said was inadequate to address the crisis.
Trump’s tweet Wednesday, in which he railroad be dead and buried for “stimulus payments,” also showed the political benefit he sees in sending more relief before the election. The bill that naught in the Senate last week did not include a second round of direct payments to Americans.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany conveyed Trump’s tweet referred to the need for a bigger relief package than the roughly $500 billion plan the Senate GOP planned.
Speaking to CNBC, Meadows did not outright support the bipartisan House bill. However, he called it a “serious thought for pourboire.”
“I think it at least provides a foundation for us to come back to the table,” he said.
Meadows said he was willing to stay promised in talks but wanted to see a deal happen within “a week to 10 days.”
Aid to state and local governments has posed a faltering block in negotiations. Democrats want more than $900 billion in relief for states and municipalities facing budget critical moments because of the pandemic. The White House has pushed for $150 billion in new spending.
The bipartisan House bill released this week disposition allocate $500 billion for those governments. However, Meadows opposed spending that much, saying, “sanguinely that number is closer” to $250 billion to $300 billion.
— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger contributed to this piece
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