Negotiators on the next coronavirus relief bill appeared as far as ever from an agreement Friday and rushed to lay blame as a key financial lifeline expires.
Underscoring the gulf between Democrats and Repbulicans as they try to boost an economy and health-care system buckling under the weight of the pandemic, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows offered derision during dueling news conferences Friday morning. The pair met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday night but appeared to make little progress toward cracking the impasse.
Schumer said the lack of a Republican consensus on pandemic aid has hindered progress toward a deal. Multiple GOP senators have said a large share of the caucus does not support the legislation Republicans released this week.
The current $600 per week enhanced federal unemployment benefit lapses at the end of the day, though states stopped paying it out last week. After last-ditch efforts to pass an extension failed Thursday, the Senate left for the weekend, guaranteeing the money buoying roughly 30 million people during an economic crisis will at least temporarily dry up.
While the House was scheduled to leave for all of August, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told members their recess would not start until the chamber passes a coronavirus relief bill. He said he would give representatives 24 hours’ notice before a vote.
On Friday, Meadows told reporters the Trump administration officials made “no less than four different offers” to Democrats to temporarily extend the unemployment insurance. Pelosi acknowledged she rejected at least one proposal, a one-week extension of the $600 benefit, saying Congress usually uses such a stopgap plan if it is near an agreement.
“No, let’s sit down and get this done. Let’s recognize people need $600,” the speaker said. Pelosi later added, “We don’t have shared values. That’s just the way it is.”
Meadows accused Democrats of holding out to get a better deal “at the expense of those that are hurting.”
“We’re going in the wrong direction. They’re going in the wrong direction because of partisan politics. It is very disappointing,” he said.
Even so, both Pelosi and Meadows said they would continue talks to try to strike an agreement. They were set to talk Friday and meet at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday, an aide familiar with the plans said.
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