Stimulus deal must be reached TODAY or there won’t be any $1,200 checks before election, Pelosi says
NANCY Pelosi has warned a stimulus deal must be reached today or there will not be another round of $1,200 checks before election.
The House Speaker and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made progress in their latest coronavirus stimulus talks on Monday - after Pelosi set a Tuesday deadline to reach an agreement.
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Drew Hammill, the House Speakers chief of staff, : "The Speaker continues to hope that, by the end of the day Tuesday, we will have clarity on whether we will be able to pass a bill before the election."
According to Hammill, in a nearly one-hour phone call the pair "continued to narrow their differences."
Hammill also added that has directed House committee chairs to work to resolve areas of disagreement with the White House - while Pelosi and plan to continue their talks again Tuesday.
On Sunday, Pelosi set the White House with a 48-hour deadline to agree to a if they want to pass the relief bill before the election.
The demand came after she and Mnuchin spoke for over an hour in a bid to resolve the on-going deadlock over a package with a second round of $1,200 checks.
On October 10, in talks with Pelosi – but many Senate Republicans have balked at a package that big.
Over the weekend, Hammill said work remains to be done as Pelosi set the 48-hour deadline – though it was unclear what would happen if this wasn’t met.
“While there was some encouraging news on testing, there remains work to do to ensure there is a comprehensive testing plan that includes contact tracing and additional measures to address the virus’ disproportionate impact on communities of color,” .
“There remains an array of additional differences as we go provision by provision that must be addressed in a comprehensive manner in the next 48 hours."
Pelosi said while differences remain with the administration on a wide-ranging but she was optimistic legislation could be pushed through before Election Day.
“I’m optimistic because, again, we’ve been back and forth on all of this,” Pelosi said in an
“Decisions must be made by the White House in order to demonstrate that the Administration is serious about reaching a bipartisan agreement that provides for Americans with the greatest needs during the pandemic.”
The Democrat dominated House of Representatives has approved a $2.2trillion coronavirus stimulus package, but a deal with the White House and Republican-held Senate is still yet to be reached.
Senate Majority Leader said the Senate will vote on smaller coronavirus relief packages Tuesday and Wednesday.
Republicans gave favoured a series of singular bills with smaller individual price tags while Democrats have advocated for a sweeping package that addressed several sectors of the pandemic.
The first bill will center on additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provides assistance to small businesses during the pandemic.
The second vote on Wednesday will center on aid to schools and funding for testing.
, much smaller than the White House's offer, and the $2.2 trillion package House Democrats recently passed.
Some GOP members have balked at adding $2trillion in funding, to the $3trillion approved by Congress.
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The president laid the blame for the deadlock at the door of Pelosi,
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Relief plans have remain bogged down over the appropriate amount of funding.
Related issues like coronavirus testing plans and a Republican push to protect companies from liability if their workers get infected on the job have also led to deadlock.