Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled Friday she is done talking about a bipartisan coronavirus aid proposal put forward in the House this week that cuts hundreds of billions of dollars off of her own proposed aid package.
Pelosi dismissed a reporter’s question about the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus’s coronavirus aid proposal, which would cost roughly $1.5 trillion.
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The proposal, authored by 25 House Democrats and 25 of their fellow GOP lawmakers, would cost far less than the $2.2 trillion in spending that Pelosi is insisting on in stalled talks with the GOP.
“I’ve made my statement. Just go read my statement,” Pelosi tersely responded to a reporter who asked her to name “specific issues” with the measure that contribute to her opposition.
“I respect what they’re doing,” she said, referencing the bipartisan group who sponsored the bill. “I made a statement about it, as have our as have our chairs.”
The leaders of eight House committees issued a joint statement declaring that the proposal “falls short of what is needed to save lives and boost the economy.”
House Democrats, and particularly the party’s more centrist faction, are ramping up pressure on Pelosi to agree to a less costly proposal in order to find a compromise with the GOP-led Senate and the White House.
“What truly ‘falls short’ is doing nothing,” Rep. Kendra Horn, an Oklahoma Democrat who helped write the proposal, said on Twitter. “It is flatly unacceptable that congressional leadership is not at the table when businesses are closing, Americans are out of work, and families need help. The political games have to stop.”
Pelosi on Friday made no commitment to budge and told reporters that she’s already lowered her initial request by $1 trillion.
“And I said we’d meet them in the middle,” Pelosi said, characterizing her talks with the GOP. “So, this is not about perfect being the enemy of the good. Any other questions?”
