Pelosi, Schumer blow up $ 916 billion White House coronavirus relief proposal

WASHINGTON – House of Commons Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Chuck Schumer on Tuesday evening rejected a $ 916 billion Trump-backed coronavirus relief proposal proposed by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy said the plan proposed a direct payment of $ 600 for individuals and $ 1,200 for couples, which is half of the payment made by the pandemic bill. March, the Associated Press reported.

In a joint statement, Schumer and Pelosi described as progress the fact that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Approved the cost of the package, but said the proposal stood in the way of negotiations. bipartites already underway between lawmakers. Democratic leaders have also made it clear that cutting unemployment benefits stemming from what’s on the table is something they could never support.

“The president’s proposal begins by reducing the unemployment insurance proposal being discussed by bipartisan members of the House and Senate from $ 180 billion to $ 40 billion. This is unacceptable,” they said.

Mnuchin said he spoke to Pelosi on behalf of President Donald Trump and presented the plan, which he said is superior to the bipartisan proposal of $ 908.

“This proposal includes money for state and local governments and strong liability protections for businesses, schools and universities,” Mnuchin said. “As part of this proposal, we will fund it using $ 140 billion in unused paycheck protection program funds and $ 429 billion in treasury funds.”

The White House proposal came as McConnell suggested that lawmakers negotiating the bipartisan plan put aside the two most contentious parts of their talks – aid to state and local governments and an accountability shield for employers. Schumer and Pelosi, however, rejected this approach.

Meanwhile, a group of progressive Democratic senators led by Bernie Sanders have called for another round of checks for $ 1,200 to be added to the plan, with the overall price tag at $ 300 billion. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Said on Tuesday he spoke to Trump over the weekend about adding stimulus checks to the package.

The bipartisan framework does not include direct stimulus payments.

The latest developments come as Congress is expected to take a government spending measure that will extend the funding deadline by a week, until Dec. 18, to gain more time for these bipartisan negotiations.

Garrett haake contributed.