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WASHINGTON: The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday (October 1) approved a $ 2.2 trillion Democratic plan to provide further economic relief from the COVID-19 pandemic as a bipartisan agreement continued to elude the president. of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and to the White House.
The objections of leading Republicans are likely to spoil the House Democrats’ plan in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has called the $ 2.2 trillion price tag “outrageous,” though Democrats have cut the cost of his proposal by more than $ 1 trillion since May. The House vote was 214-207.
No Republicans voted for the Democratic plan, although 18 Democrats voted against, many of them moderates from undecided districts who have been urging Pelosi to bring a bipartisan proposal to the House.
“Today’s package is another partisan exercise that will never become law,” said Rep. Abigail Spanberger, one of the Democrats who voted against it.
Republican President Donald Trump’s negotiating team suggested a $ 1.6 trillion response, and the White House on Thursday dismissed the Democrats’ $ 2.2 trillion plan as not serious.
Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have spoken every day this week, including a 50-minute phone call Thursday, in an effort to negotiate a bipartisan aid package to respond to the economic fallout of a pandemic that has killed over 207,000 Americans and thrown by the millions. Jobless.
Congress and the White House approved more than $ 3 trillion in coronavirus relief measures earlier this year, but Mnuchin, as well as members of Congress from both parties, have argued that more stimulus is needed.
When asked if there would be a resolution for her negotiations with the administration on Thursday night, Pelosi told reporters: “No.” He did not give details of their conversations, but said: “Even if we reach an agreement, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. It is the language.”
In the absence of an agreement with the White House, and with lawmakers preparing to leave Washington during the remaining weeks of the 2020 presidential and congressional campaign, the Democratic-majority House went ahead and approved the Democrats’ proposal.
“Frankly, if we had reached a bipartisan agreement … we would not have this bill in the room,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. “But we also want the American people to know where we stand.”
Pelosi and Mnuchin differed on aid to state and local governments, Democratic demands for a child tax credit and stronger protections for worker safety, health care provisions, and help for small businesses.
Following the phone call from Pelosi and Mnuchin on Thursday afternoon, Pelosi’s Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill wrote on Twitter: “The two discussed further clarification on quantities and language, but the distance in key areas remains.”
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany dismissed the Democratic proposal as “an unserious offer.”
Pelosi said of the White House proposal on Bloomberg TV: “This is not half a loaf. What they are offering is the heel of the loaf.”
Republican Senator Mike Braun told CNBC on Thursday that a deal worth more than $ 1.6 trillion could be rejected by a third to half of Senate Republicans. That would still allow a bill to pass with the support of Democrats.
Lawmakers and securities analysts saw the talks as a last-ditch effort to secure relief ahead of the Nov.3 election for tens of millions of Americans and businesses, including U.S. airlines, that have begun laying off more than 32,000 workers.
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