House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she won’t agree to a narrow bill to bail out the struggling airline industry, telling reporters it would have to be part of a much bigger package.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, contradicted reports that she held talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on a measure that would provide $25 billion to the airlines, which have seen a steep decline in business due to the coronavirus and the subsequent stalling of the economy.
“It’s not going to happen,” Pelosi told reporters who asked about the talks. “Ain’t going to be no stand-alone bill unless there is a bigger bill, and it could be part of that or in addition to that.”
Democrats last week attempted to pass a bill to extend a payroll support program for airline workers, but the Republicans blocked it.
Pelosi’s comments Thursday appear to dash hopes for a quick passage of a smaller coronavirus aid package.
President Trump Wednesday called on Congress on Twitter to “IMMEDIATELY Approve 25 Billion Dollars for Airline Payroll Support, & 135 Billion Dollars for Paycheck Protection Program for Small Business.” Trump said the funds would come from money left over from nearly $3 trillion in already-approved federal coronavirus aid.
Trump appeared to reverse himself from a tweet earlier in the week in which he announced the White House was pulling out of talks with the Democrats, who he said were not negotiating “in good faith.”
Pelosi, in talks with Mnuchin, has asked the Trump administration to agree to a $2.4-trillion package that includes money for state, local, and tribal governments, additional money for food stamps and rent control, and other spending provisions. House Democrats last week passed a pared-down version of a $3 trillion plan they approved in May. The latest Democratic version would cost $2.2 trillion.
Talks between Mnuchin and Pelosi on a new round of federal coronavirus aid have dragged on for weeks, with little progress.
“We are at the table. We want to continue the conversation, so we’ll see how they come back,” Pelosi said.
