President Pelosi says there is ‘momentum’ to strike relief deal with Covid

WASHINGTON – House of Commons Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Said Friday there was “momentum” on Capitol Hill to reach a deal on coronavirus relief, added optimism that the legislation could be approved before the end of the year.

“There is momentum,” Pelosi told reporters. “I’m glad the tone of our conversation is an indicator of the decision to do the job.”

The deal would provide for increased unemployment payments until March, but would not send another round of checks to the nation.

Pelosi said she spoke with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., About the commitment of Covid-19 relief to the government funding bill on Thursday, which must be adopted by December 11 to avoid a shutdown. This means that lawmakers negotiating another round of aid are working on a tight deadline after months of deadlocked negotiations.

When asked if Democrats and Republicans could realistically reach a deal by next week as lingering political differences lingered, Pelosi insisted the truncated timeline was no obstacle , telling reporters “we have time to do it”.

“It doesn’t matter. We will take the time we need,” she said.

Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., have expressed support for a $ 908 billion bipartisan proposal presented by members of the Senate and House on Tuesday.

Negotiations came to a standstill earlier this year as Democrats demanded $ 2.2 trillion in aid while McConnell sought a smaller $ 550 billion package. In addition to the award, Republicans and Democrats disagreed on including liability guarantees for open businesses during the pandemic as well as funding for state and local governments.

The bipartisan proposal, which Pelosi described as a “framework” for the ongoing negotiations, includes state and local funding and liability protections, as well as more unemployment aid and support for small businesses. It does not include another round of direct stimulus payments.

The bipartisan proposal is a smaller package than Democrats hoped for, raising questions as to why Pelosi waited so long to agree to a smaller proposal after insisting for months that she didn’t was not interested in a watered-down deal.

“It wasn’t a mistake,” Pelosi said, calling Joe Biden’s election a “game changer” and expressing hope that more help could be provided under his administration.

“It’s less money, but in a shorter period. And we have to do it to save lives and livelihoods with the hope that a lot more aid is on the way.”

Pelosi’s comments come as the November jobs report released on Friday showed the slowest month of growth since the recovery began, with the economy creating fewer jobs than many economists had predicted.

“We’ve had some bad news on the jobs front that further requires action to be taken to crush the virus,” Pelosi said.