By Lisa Mascaro | United Press
WASHINGTON – Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not intend to blink.
The Democratic leader has been here before, negotiating a deal with the White House to save the U.S. economy, and lessons from the Great Recession are now punctuating the conversations about coronavirus. With Republicans re-joining major government reductions, Democrats believe they have the leverage, forcing President Donald Trump into a politically risky hurdle of helping millions of Americans.
“It’s impossible to know if she’s played her hand too much until we see if there’s a COVID package,” said Michael Steel, a former top spokesman for then-speaker John Boehner.
Monday did not bring any new talks between Trump’s team and negotiators over Capitol Hill, as the president seeks a go-it-alone strategy. Over the weekend, he launched a series of executive actions that give the appearance of a White House taking the lead, but may end up with a little help for ordinary Americans.
The president’s mandates are trying to prevent the devastating fallout from unemployment benefits, eviction protection and other aid that has expired. But there are boundaries, and legal pitfalls, in trying to put an end to the legislative branch.
Pelosi on Monday dismissed Trump’s proposal as an “illusion” in an interview on MSNBC.
Trump acknowledged that he was still quite open to a deal with Congress. “Now Schumer and Pelosi now want to meet to make a deal. It’s amazing how it all works, it is not, “he tweeted on Monday. “They know my phone number.”
With Trump now playing his hand, however, Democrats appear in no hurry to see them.
It will take days, if not weeks, to sort out what Trump meant by his executive actions, as guidance from the administration is sent to the states. Already, the Department of Labor officials say that Trump’s promise of $ 400 weekly incentive of unemployment benefits will actually amount to $ 300 if states are unable to provide the rest, according to information obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer dismissed Trump’s administrative actions as “all sizzle and no steak,” held together by “spit and glue.”
In the meantime, countless Americans are already feeling the pressure. What used to be a $ 600 weekly unemployment boost is gone, as is federal eviction protection. Schools seeking federal aid are now facing the prospect of revisiting budgets for austerity.
The virus shows no signs of diminishing, with more than 5 million infections and 160,000 deaths nationwide and stark new evidence that many jobs of Americans can never return.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, at a conference call with executives on Monday, said action by Congress remains the administration’s first choice.
Mnuchin and Vice President Mike Pence urged the governors to reach out to congressional leaders and support legislation, according to audio of the call received by AP.
“At any moment, they want to meet – and they want to negotiate and have a new proposal – we are more than happy to meet,” Mnuchin said later in the White House. He confirmed he had not spoken to Democratic leaders since talks collapsed Friday.
Pelosi has been here before, at the beginning of the last recession, when George W. Bush’s Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson fell on his knees at the White House and only begged her not to leave a financial rescue plan in Congress. fail.
Democrats cast the majority of votes in 2008 for Bush’s bank editorial board, and, with a majority in both the House and Senate, also approved President Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan in 2009. They see that era often after a Republican president.
Now, for a much bigger crisis – the escalating virus and economic shutdown – Pelosi is standing firm.
She told The Associated Press earlier this year that Mnuchin is a ‘good listener’ and that they have a good report, after negotiating a relief package in March.
But she said: “When President Bush was president, he would say to me, ‘Secretary Paulson is speaking for me.’ I do not do this case – I’m not sure. ‘
Negotiations on the latest coronavirus bill shifted with the arrival of Mark Meadows, the new chief of staff to the president, a conservative former head of the House Freedom Caucus who is widely seen as an opposing force for Mnuchin.
In days of closed-door conversations, Meadows often declares one issue after another a ‘nonstarter’, according to an aide who gave anonymity to discuss the private sessions.
Another aide said both Meadows and Mnuchin used that term several times when retaliating against the Democratic proposals.
Pelosi has said several times that Trump and the Republicans do not understand the seriousness of the situation where the nation is.
She and Schumer put their latest compromise offer on the table, their $ trillion-plus package of relief dropped by $ 1 trillion to $ 2.5 trillion, and the White House asked to do the same, and their $ 1 trillion proposal to increase to at least $ 2 trillion. That was rejected last week.
House Speaker Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of “taking hostages.”
The GOP leader, who has chosen to stay on the sidelines of the talks, has a weakened hand, because unlike the Democratic leaders, who have most of their rank and file behind them have, his Republican majority is fractured. Nearly half of GOP senators prefer no new help at all.
“Democrats think they smell an opening,” he said.
However, McConnell can play an influential role if and when he decides to cast the votes he is sure of the table. That can lead to one path for a possible deal.
Associated Press writer Alan Suderman in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.
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