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WASHINGTON – The White House acted aggressively on Friday to reignite stimulus talks that President Trump had canceled a few days earlier, presenting its largest offer of economic relief yet as beleaguered administration officials and Republican lawmakers struggled to avoid being blamed by voters for not complying. he needed help before the elections.
The price of the new $ 1.8 trillion proposal, which Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin presented to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, in a phone call of about 30 minutes, was almost double the offer. original presented by the administration when the talks began in late summer.
It was the latest indication that the White House was eager to reverse Trump’s decision Tuesday to abruptly halt negotiations, and it reflected a growing sense of fear both in the White House and among vulnerable Senate Republicans facing the challenge. reelection for political reasons. consequences of your actions. The offer also highlighted deep and persistent divisions among Republicans, most of whom have resisted a large new federal infusion of pandemic aid, that have complicated negotiations for months.
Now, with Trump pushing to “Go Big,” while put it in a tweet on Friday, he raised the possibility of pushing through a plan that his own party refuses to accept, giving Pelosi and Democrats new leverage to dictate the terms of any deal.
On Friday, she was still waiting for more concessions. While Mnuchin’s latest offer “attempted to address some of the concerns that Democrats have,” Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi, said it did not include an agreement on a national strategy to test, trace and other efforts to contain the spread. of the virus, which the speaker has promoted in recent weeks. “For this and other provisions, we are still awaiting language from the administration while negotiations on the full amount of funding continue.”
“I hope we have a deal soon but, as you say, they keep changing,” Pelosi said on MSNBC. Referring to Trump’s tweets that temporarily ended the negotiations, he added that the president “received a terrible reaction, even in the stock market, which is what he cares about. And then it started to come back little by little, and now a bigger package ”.
Speaking on the right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh’s show, Trump admitted that he had changed his position on the approval of additional coronavirus aid before Election Day, stating: “I would like to see a bigger stimulus package, frankly , which the Democrats or Republicans are offering. ”(Alyssa Farah, the White House communications director, later contradicted Trump’s claim and told reporters at the White House that the administration wanted a final package to stand for below $ 2 trillion, which is less than the $ 2.2 trillion measure that Pelosi pushed through Casa this month.)
Such sums are deeply alarming to most Republicans, who are increasingly looking to the future of their party after Trump leaves the political scene and determined to regain the party’s mantle of fiscal restraint. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Majority Leader, warned Trump in a phone call this week that the majority of Republican senators would not accept a stimulus measure as large as Pelosi wanted, an assessment that appeared to influence the president’s decision. tweet. an end to conversations.
Speaking to reporters in Kentucky on Friday, McConnell continued to question the chances of a deal in the coming weeks, saying that political divisions remain too deep.
“The situation is a bit murky and I think the murkiness is the result of the proximity to the elections and everyone trying to elbow each other for political advantage,” McConnell said. “I’d like to see us overcome that as we did in March and April, but I think that’s unlikely in the next three weeks.”
In private, however, McConnell has come under renewed pressure to allow a deal to move forward.
Several grassroots Republicans, including some in tough reelection contests such as Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Cory Gardner of Colorado and David Perdue of Georgia, pressed McConnell during a phone call Thursday to act on a stimulus measure, according to two people familiar with the discussion who requested anonymity to reveal details of a private conversation.
Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa said on Twitter that she had spoken to Trump and “told him what I heard from people across the state: Iowans need additional relief from COVID-19.”
“I’m hopeful that Congress can come together once again – R and D – and provide more support for working Americans,” added Ms. Ernst.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and one of the senators on the call with McConnell, said in an interview that he had pushed for a compromise with Democrats, noting that “if you really want to pass something, it has to be bipartisan, true? “
“We are constitutionally obligated to work on the nation’s problems, and this is something we must work on,” he added.
During a campaign forum Friday night, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said he was also in favor of passing another stimulus bill before the election and that he would be “willing to make nearly 2 billion of dollars”.
“I’m excited that Pelosi and Mnuchin are talking again,” he said. “Count on me for another stimulus package.”
But other Republicans are wary of the liberal provisions Mnuchin may accept to win Pelosi’s support. Many of them opposed McConnell’s original $ 1 trillion offer in July, after days of haggling with the White House, in part because they were concerned about increasing the national debt. Major Republicans cut the offer considerably, proposing a $ 350 billion plan that drew objections from Democrats, who called it inadequate.
Ms. Pelosi’s $ 2.2 trillion plan “is not going to fly very far here, at least on the Republican side, so we’ll see,” Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, told reporters Friday. on Capitol Hill. “Maybe it has to be after the election, if someone can calm down after that.”
In the House, vulnerable Republicans have also raised concerns about facing voters without a stimulus agreement.
“There is still room for bipartisan agreement on the next stimulus package, and I am committed to standing to vote at any time to support legislation that will help American families and small businesses,” said Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Missouri. and president of the House Suburban Caucus, who faces an uphill battle for re-election in her district in the suburbs of St. Louis. “These priorities must not be politicized and we must reach an agreement that helps American families at an incredibly difficult time.”
With less than a month to go before Election Day, it is also unclear if there is enough time for Congress to pass a stimulus agreement, as Senate Republicans also mobilize to confirm Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court. .
In its series of tweets on Tuesday, Trump instructed Senate Republicans “to focus full time instead on approving my leading candidate for the US Supreme Court.”
Nicholas Fandos, Carl Hulse and Jim Tankersley contributed reporting.
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