U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) delivers remarks during a weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 28, 2020.
Tom Brenner | Reuters
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows failed to crack a coronavirus relief statement Thursday when they spoke for the first time in weeks.
After a 25-minute phone call between the couple, Pelosi issued a statement saying “this conversation made it clear that the White House continues to ignore the needs of the American people as the coronavirus crisis destroys life and livelihoods.”
She said the sides were on a “tragic impasse” after the Trump administration again failed to meet its demand to roughly double the price of its aid adjustment to $ 2.2 trillion.
“Democrats are ready to resume negotiations if Republicans begin this process seriously. The life, livelihood and life of our democracy are at stake,” the California Democrat said in the statement.
A Meadows spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Negotiations between Democrats, led by Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the White House, led by Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, collapsed earlier this month in disagreements over unemployment benefits, state and local government relief, and school funding, including expenses. Congress has failed to pass a fifth package to try to combat health and economic crises created by the pandemic, even after an additional $ 600 per week extra unemployment benefit, a federal eviction moratorium and the opportunity to apply for a small business loan program expired.
As Pelosi calls for a broader approach to stimulus, Republicans are making a narrower bill that they could soon pass in Congress, sources told CNBC. The plan, which would cost about $ 500 billion, would address unemployment insurance, a new authorization for small business loans, school financing, and testing, treatment and faxing from Covid-19.
If Democrats control the House, the bill would probably not get through both houses of Congress.
Over the course of the talks, Democrats and the White House have noted wide differences in how much federal money they want to spend to contain the virus and repair a damaged economy. Democrats passed a bill of more than $ 3 trillion in relief in May.
Republicans then released a counter-proposal worth about $ 1 billion at the end of July. The parties have made little progress in making a bill that could become law since the GOP unveiled its plan.
After talks broke out, Trump took a series of limited, potentially unconstitutional executive actions to address parts of the crisis. Among other things, they allowed states to offer several weeks of improved unemployment benefits of at least $ 300 per week.
In the drive for a comprehensive approach to more coronavirus help, Democrats have cited comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and others who have warned that a lack of fiscal stimulus could jeopardize the U.S. economic recovery.
The House returned over the weekend from the August recession to pass a bill to inject money into the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service. But Pelosi refused calls from about half of her caucus to pass stand-alone legislation to reduce unemployment benefits by $ 600 a week.
When the entire Congress returns in September, it will need to consider not only coronavirus relief plans, but also funding measures to prevent a government shutdown at the end of the month.
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