House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will update the public on Monday afternoon on their long-stalled bipartisan coronavirus negotiations, which could mean new stimulus checks and unemployment benefits before the November election.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, has been in accelerated talks with Mnuchin for weeks. Mnuchin most recently offered a $1.8 trillion coronavirus aid package that Pelosi rejected. Pelosi is holding out for a package that provides approximately $2.4 trillion.
The two will speak jointly at 3 p.m., a Democratic source familiar with the talks told the Washington Examiner.
Lawmakers and White House negotiators have been eager to pass a new round of aid before the Nov. 3 election, but the House, White House, and Senate are all in disagreement on the size and scope of a deal.
Most Senate Republicans are not in favor of a plan costing more than $500 billion, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said he’d bring a bill to the floor if Pelosi and Mnuchin reach an agreement that is bipartisan.
In the meantime, McConnell plans to call up a $500 billion package the chamber considered in September. That measure, backed by nearly all Republicans, failed to win enough Democratic votes to make it to the floor for debate.
McConnell will speak about the path forward on the Senate floor later Monday afternoon. He has until now signaled opposition to taking up a package in the $2 trillion range.
On Saturday, McConnell announced the Senate would “of course” consider voting on a bill “if Speaker Pelosi ever lets the House reach a bipartisan agreement with the administration.”
It’s likely most Senate and House Republicans will oppose the Mnuchin-Pelosi agreement, if one is reached. Republican lawmakers oppose numerous additions Pelosi wants included, such as $500 billion to bail out state, local, and tribal governments starving for tax revenue. Democrats also included changes to voting laws that reduce voter ID requirements and a provision eliminating the cap on property tax deductions, which mostly benefits wealthier blue-state residents.
“It is heartless for Democrats to continue their total blockade of any aid whatsoever unless Speaker Pelosi gets her way on countless non-COVID-related demands,” McConnell said Saturday.
McConnell’s statement followed an announcement by Pelosi that a deal must be reached within 48 hours to ensure passage of a relief package before the November election.
