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The Trump administration will continue talks to resolve what the next round of incentive relief should look like – with the goal of finding a resolution soon, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Monday.
“If we can get a fair deal, we’re ready to do it this week,” Mnuchin said in an interview with CNBC.
The talks, led by Mnuchin, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, (D-NY) so far have not led to an agreement.
As of last week, Democrats wanted to spend roughly $ 3 trillion on a rescue package known as the HEROES Act. However, Republicans have backed their $ 1 trillion bill called the HEALS Act. Negotiations started on Friday.
To reverse the congressional tug-of-war, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Saturday, outlining four distinct areas of action:
- Expand the federal unemployment benefit, which expired July 31, and reduce it to $ 400 per week, down from $ 600. The federal government will pay 75%, with states expecting the remaining 25% to come. This weekly benefit is in addition to regular benefits of state unemployment, which vary in amount depending on the state.
- Delay the payment tax until the end of the year. This benefit would only apply to people making less than roughly $ 100,000 a year.
- Interest rates on federal student loans and payments will end by the end of the year, and this delay will extend beyond the current Sept. 30 date.
- Call for an extension of the current ban on eviction, and specifically ask the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to “consider” whether an extension of the current ban on eviction is necessary and “any and all available federal identification funds ”that could be used to evict landlords.
Next steps are coming … Slowly
Although Trump’s executive actions were intended as a stop-gap measure, while talks continue between the administration and Democrats, the two sides do not seem closer to reaching an agreement and have taken to criticizing each other in media appearances.
On Sunday, Pelosi and Schumer issued a joint statement calling the president’s actions “meager” and that they “do not provide much real help to families.”
At a press conference today, White House Secretary of State Kayleigh McEnany resigned, saying the “Democrats reject multiple clean bills to provide relief.”
Negotiations are still expected to continue this week, as much remains to be decided even with the president’s executive orders. For example, according to the president’s memorandum, states will have to apply for funding to increase their share of the required 25% of the $ 400 weekly unemployment benefit.
And while there appears to be a two-year agreement that created the Paycheck Protection Program, a forgivable and low-interest lending program as part of the CARES Act to help small businesses struggling to survive the pandemic, should receive additional funding, the exact terms have not yet been agreed.
It is also worth noting that Trump did not outline provisions for a second incentive check, something that both Democrats and Republicans say they support.
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