Standoff over Covid relief could drag into September
White House officials and top Democratic leaders signaled on Wednesday that they can’t agree on what they said to each other, much less forge a compromise, on a Covid-19 relief bill to help the battered U.S. economy or tens of millions of Americans facing financial hardship.
The high-stakes stalemate now appears likely to drag on for weeks, or even into September, according to lawmakers and aides in both parties.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reached out to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Wednesday to meet, after nearly a week of no in-person meetings. But in a statement, the two top Democrats on Capitol Hill said there’s no reason for further discussions at this point since the White House isn’t changing positions on numerous policy fights that have stalled the talks.
“The White House is not budging from their position concerning the size and scope of a legislative package,” Pelosi and Schumer said in a statement. “We have again made clear to the administration that we are willing to resume negotiations once they start to take this process seriously.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/standoff-over-covid-relief-could-drag-into-september/ar-BB17SKZ5?li=BBnb7Kz
Plus they waited till the last minute to make a counter offer to the proposal the House passed in May.
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