On Tuesday, the White House suppressed expectations that a major coronavirus relief package would be agreed to in the November 3 U.S. presidential election, saying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was looking for too much.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the Pelosi Democrats’ proposal included stimulus checks for immigrants in the United States illegally.
“The chances are slim when you have someone like Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, when you look at the proposal they put forward and it still stands today,” McEnany said on Fox Business Network.
“This is not serious if we are providing stimulus relief for the American people, it should be just that, for the American people, for American citizens,” McEnany added. “So it depends on her.”
The HEROES Act passed by the House would allow taxpaying immigrants to receive emergency relief funds.
Earlier, White House spokeswoman Alyssah Farah had looked beyond the presidential and congressional elections next Tuesday and told Fox News: “We are confident that we can get something done in the next few weeks.”
President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans have disagreed with Democratic lawmakers on the need for an additional federal aid package for Americans economically affected by the pandemic.
The House approved his latest plan in May, but Republicans, who lead the US Senate, objected to its size.
Trump himself supports another major aid package, but he and Pelosi have been unable to reach an agreement.
The White House has said that aid to state and local governments has been the main stumbling block in the talks, while Democrats also cite the lack of a national coronavirus testing plan.
On Monday, Pelosi’s spokesman said he hoped an agreement could be reached before the election.
The United States is facing a resurgence in cases of the new coronavirus, and 36 of the 50 US states have seen an increase for at least two weeks in a row, according to Reuters analysis. Deaths from respiratory diseases have also more than doubled in seven states.
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