Trump puts relief negotiations on hold until after election

According to news reports, President Donald Trump has told administration officials to stop working with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on another potential coronavirus relief package until after the election. Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have been in negotiations for several weeks but have been unable to reach an agreement.

The president, in a series of tweets Tuesday, said he rejected House Democrats’ latest $2.4 trillion proposal because he believed that Pelosi was not negotiating in good faith and said he was instructing administration representatives to stop negotiating on a package until after the election.

The House last week passed a revised version of Democrats’ HEROES Act before leaving for its pre-election recess, but Pelosi indicated lawmakers could be called back to Washington to vote on another package if an agreement was reached, or potentially address some issues via piecemeal legislation. The Senate is not expected to take up the House-passed measure, and has previously failed to pass Republicans’ own version of Phase 4 relief.

 

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