House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is negotiating with the Trump administration to reshape the coronavirus package she released last night, in the hopes of addressing the president’s objections to pass the legislation this week.
Despite some initial opposition to the bill from the administration, echoed by Republicans on Capitol Hill, Pelosi expressed hope Thursday morning of striking a deal with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is leading the negotiations for the administration.
“They made suggestions to the language,” Pelosi said at a press conference. “We’re agreeing to most of them because they’re not that different.”
“So, we don’t need 48 hours, we need to just make a decision to help families, right now, because we have to operate not as business as usual, but in an emergency status, where we have to get the job done,” Pelosi added, referring to a comment from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy earlier Thursday that Democrats and Republicans could get something done within 48 hours.
On Thursday, Pelosi told reporters the House is aiming to take up the coronavirus measure quickly, pass it, and then leave for recess. It would be up to the Republican-led Senate to take the House bill, or reject it, she added.
Through Mnuchin, President Trump is making his demands for the coronavirus economic package, while Republican leaders in the House and Senate are expected to follow his lead and pass whatever the administration agrees to.
Trump said Thursday that he doesn’t support the Democratic bill and that he favored a payroll tax cut. “There are things in there that have nothing to do with what we’re talking about,” he said at the White House. “[It’s] not a way for them to get some of the goodies they haven’t been able to get for the past 25 years.”
The House measure includes provisions that would entitle workers affected by the coronavirus to paid sick leave and create a new “emergency paid leave” federal benefit for people forced into quarantine.
It also would expand food stamps and unemployment insurance for those affected by the coronavirus and the school and business closures it has caused, as well as aim to provide meals to children who normally get lunch at school.
After the bill was introduced late last night, it received criticism from Republicans.
“House Democrats instead chose to produce an ideological wish list that was not tailored closely to the circumstances,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Thursday morning on the Senate floor.
McCarthy said during a press conference that he didn’t favor the bill, but he also said that a deal could be struck with Democrats to pass a coronavirus economic response package within 48 hours.
Trump announced several of his own less ambitious, more targeted measures to bolster the economy on Wednesday night. He said the Small Business Administration will provide low-interest loans to businesses in areas hit by the pandemic to help overcome temporary economic disruptions and asked Congress to increase funding to the program by $50 billion.
