Pelosi Points to Election as Reason for 48-Hour Deadline on Stimulus Deal
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has given the Trump White House a deadline to agree to a coronavirus relief package if it wants passage before Election Day.
Pelosi and President Donald Trump have been going back and forth over the terms of any deal for weeks. Drew Hamill, Pelosi’s spokesman, tweeted Saturday that progress was taking shape.
“The Speaker and Secretary Mnuchin spoke at 7:40 p.m. by phone tonight for just over an hour. While there was some encouraging news on testing, there remains work to do,” he tweeted.
Later on in a series of tweets, he said that the “virus’ disproportionate impact on communities of color” still needed to be addressed.
… address the virus’ disproportionate impact on communities of color. There remains an array of additional differences as we go provision by provision that must be addressed in a comprehensive manner in the next 48 hours. Decisions must be made by the White House… (2/3)
— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) October 18, 2020
Hamill also said that sealing the deal needed to happen in “the next 48 hours” if a bill will be passed before the election, giving the White House a Tuesday deadline.
… in order to demonstrate that the Administration is serious about reaching a bipartisan agreement that provides for Americans with the greatest needs during the pandemic. (3/3)
— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) October 18, 2020
The size of the House package has been between $1.8 and $2.2 trillion.
Mnuchin and Pelosi are scheduled to talk again Monday afternoon.
During a Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Pelosi said the 48-hour deadline was to determine if an agreement would take shape prior to the Nov. 3 election, according to The Hill.
“The 48 only relates to if we want to get it done before the election, which we do,” she said. “I’m optimistic because, again, we’ve been back and forth on all of this.”
Pelosi restated her optimism in a letter to House Democrats, according to Politico.
“I am optimistic that we can reach agreement before the election,“ Pelosi wrote. She added that Democrats are “fully prepared to move forward once we reach agreement.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the Republican-controlled Senate will take the bill under consideration if Pelosi and the White House can strike a deal.
“If Speaker Pelosi ever lets the House reach a bipartisan agreement with the Administration, the Senate would of course consider it,” he said.
The Senate will vote on its own measure this week, which would provide roughly $1 trillion in aid.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate will vote Wednesday on the coronavirus relief proposal crafted by Republicans, in addition to a separate vote on additional funding for a program to aid small businesses on Tuesday. https://t.co/9IozrOihZn
— WJZ | CBS Baltimore (@wjz) October 17, 2020
McConnell says Senate coronavirus bill includes
•More federally-expanded unemployment benefits for laid-off Americans
•An entire second round of the Paycheck Protection Program to save workers’ jobs at the hardest-hit small businesses— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) October 17, 2020
McConnell said Pelosi has been “clinging to far-left demands that are designed to kill any hope of a deal.”
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