White House COVID-19 aid offer is panned by Pelosi, Senate GOP

A new White House coronavirus aid offer got bad reviews from both ends of the political spectrum on Saturday (Oct 10).

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, rejected the most generous Trump administration plan to date as “one step forward, two steps back." The Republicans who control the Senate dismissed it as very costly and a political loser for conservatives.

Pelosi said she actually is still hopeful that progress can be made toward a deal but it's as clear as ever that GOP conservatives don't want a deal on her behalf terms.

The White House had boosted its offer before Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Pelosi spoke on Friday afternoon. President Donald Trump is looking forward to an agreement before Election Day, even as his most effective GOP ally in the Senate said Congress is unlikely to provide relief by then.

“Covid Relief Negotiations are moving along. Go Big!” Trump said Friday on Twitter.

The new offer totals about US$1.8 trillion, aides acquainted with it said, with an integral state and local fiscal relief component moving from US$250 billion to at least US$300 billion. The White House says its latest offer before that was about US$1.6 trillion. The aides weren't authorized to publicly discuss private negotiations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pelosi’s latest public offer was about US$2.2 trillion, though that included a business tax increase that Republicans won’t go for.

In a letter Saturday to colleagues, Pelosi said, “This proposal amounted to 1 step forward, two steps back. When the president discusses wanting a bigger relief package, his proposal seems to mean that he wants additional money at his discretion to grant or withhold.”

She said that while his administration attemptedto address a number of the Democratic concerns, disagreement remained on many priorities and Democrats are “awaiting language” on several provisions.

“Despite these unaddressed concerns, I remain hopeful that yesterday’s developments will move us closer to an agreement on a relief package that addresses medical and financial crisis facing America’s families,” Pelosi’s letter said.

Mnuchin’s latest offer also got a roasting from GOP senators, who weighed in on a conference call Saturday morning, according to a Republican acquainted with the call who was not authorized to go over the decision publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Many conservatives are skeptical of so much deficit-financed assist in the first place, and Pelosi-sought provisions such as expanding eligibility for the Affordable Care Act landed with a thud.

Pragmatists such as for example Senator Rob Portman and politically endangered Republicans including Senator Lindsey Graham of SC appear ready to “go big” as Trump wants. But rank-and-file Republicans - Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Rick Scott of Florida, and John Barrasso of Wyoming, for instance - are adamantly against another relief bill that's so generous.

GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell remains skeptical of the chances for an agreement, having told an audience in Kentucky on Friday that he didn't visit a deal coming together before Election Day.

"I believe it's unlikely in the next three weeks," McConnell said Friday. He said later that “the first item of priority of the Senate may be the Supreme Court," suggesting there isn't time to process both a relief bill and the high court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett prior to the Nov. 3 election.

President Donald Trump has been all over the map, first as one of the forces and only a deal, then killing the talks on Tuesday, and then revive them by weeks' end.

On Tuesday, he ordered an end to the weekslong talks after being told that few Republicans in Congress would wrap up voting for a possible Pelosi-Mnuchin deal. Now, after a political beating, Trump is pressing hard for a deal, motivated by the prospect of sending US$1,200 direct payments to voters before November.