Trump says no stimulus negotiations until election ends, shifting focus to Barrett
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he’s stopped negotiations on another coronavirus relief bill until after the election, instead urging focus on the confirmation of his Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
“I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business. I have asked @senatemajldr Mitch McConnell not to delay, but to instead focus full time on approving my outstanding nominee to the United States Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett,” Trump tweeted Tuesday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that Trump breaking off negotiations shows “his true colors.”
“Walking away from the coronavirus talks demonstrates that President Trump is unwilling to crush the virus, as is required by the HEROES Act,” she wrote. “He shows his contempt for science, his disdain for our heroes - in health care, first responders, sanitation, transportation, teachers, teachers, teachers and others - and he refuses to put money in workers’ pockets unless his name is printed on the check.”
McConnell reportedly said he supports Trump calling off the negotiations.
“Well I think his view was that they were not going to produce a result and we need to concentrate on what’s achievable,” he told CNN congressional correspondent Manu Raju.
Where Negotiations Stalled
House Democrats passed another coronavirus relief bill last Thursday, but they have nearly no chance of advancing it through the Republican-controlled Senate. In response, the White House unveiled a $1.6 trillion counteroffer that includes less funding for unemployment and for state and local governments when compared to the bill backed by Democrats.
The Democrats’ $2.2 trillion package, an updated version of the Heroes Act, was unveiled on Sept. 28 before Pelosi spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, The Washington Post reported. Democrats and Republicans have struggled to agree on a follow-up relief package to the CARES Act that went into law in March and provided most Americans with $1,200 payments during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke again on Monday but didn’t reach a deal, CNBC reported.
The Democrats’ package includes reviving the $600 weekly federal unemployment benefits from the CARES Act that expired at the end of July. The White House offer would include $400 federal benefits per week through the rest of this year, Roll Call reported.
“The GOP number does not measure up to the need that we both recognize, particularly as long-term unemployment rises and families are exhausting their benefits,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to House Democrats on Oct. 2.
Both stimulus proposals would include another round of $1,200 payments and $500 for dependents.
Some Republicans balked at the cost of the White House counteroffer, saying they wouldn’t support the plan.
“I think we’ve made it very clear that there’s so much money ... that isn’t even out of Washington yet,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa said, according to The Hill. “We’re more in the neighborhood of something below $1 trillion.”
Trump tweeted late Tuesday that he is “ready to sign” a “stand alone bill for” the $1,200 stimulus checks.
Fed warns of economic impact of the pandemic
Stocks took a hit shortly after Trump tweeted about halting negotiations, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling by almost 400 points, according to NBC News.
Lawmakers also pointed to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s earlier warning of economic consequences without enough further aid.
“Too little support would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses,” he said Tuesday at the National Association for Business Economics annual meeting.
He said there’s less risk of “overdoing it.”
“Even if policy actions ultimately prove to be greater than needed, they will not go to waste,” he said. “The recovery will be stronger and move faster if monetary policy and fiscal policy continue to work side by side to provide support to the economy until it is clearly out of the woods.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren tweeted that Powell is “absolutely correct.”
“Helping families, small businesses and state and local governments is critical for our fragile economy,” she wrote. “Trump, McConnell, and the Senate Republicans need to stop standing in the way of our economic recovery.”
Pelosi said in her statement the White House is “in complete disarray” and “rejecting the urgent warnings.”
Shifting focus to Supreme Court
Trump nominated Barrett to the Supreme Court on Sept. 29 to fill the seat of the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The Senate is expected to hold committee hearings next week and to vote on Barrett’s confirmation the week of Oct. 26. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has a narrow margin of 53 GOP senators to 45 Democrats and two independents, The Associated Press reported. With three Republican senators sick with COVID-19, Vice President Mike Pence may need to break a tie.
Republicans said they’re willing to make arrangements to allow sick senators to vote for Barrett, according to the publication. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said he’s willing to go to vote “in a moon suit” after testing positive for COVID-19.
Democrats, including 2020 presidential nominee Joe Biden, asked Senate Republicans to wait until after the election to fill Ginsburg’s seat, citing what happened in the run-up to the 2016 election, according to ABC News.
In 2016, McConnell and Senate Republicans blocked President Barack Obama from appointing Merrick Garland to fill Antonin Scalia’s seat. Garland never received a confirmation hearing. At the time, McConnell said Scalia’s death, which happened Feb. 2016, was too close to an election and that voters should decide who fills the seat, leaving a vacancy for 10 months under Obama.
But now, with Ginsburg dying less than two months from Election Day, McConnell said that rule doesn’t apply this year because both the White House and Senate are controlled by the same party, drawing backlash from Democrats and Obama.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Trump says no stimulus negotiations until election ends, shifting focus to Barrett."