TOPLINE
White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows signalled late on Wednesday that negotiations with Democrats are falling apart for a new Covid-19 stimulus package before unemployment benefits expire and Congress' scheduled August recess, saying it's likely there will be "no deal" the longer talks go on.
KEY FACTS
A sticking point for negotiations is how to handle enhanced unemployment benefits, with Democrats wanting to extend the $600 weekly checks from the CARES Act while the GOP have proposed slashing payments to $200 and eventually moving to a 70% wage replacement plan.
Following a meeting in the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) late Wednesday, Meadows said, "We're nowhere close to a deal" and that the "enhanced unemployment insurance provision will expire" on Friday, according to Politico reporter Jake Sherman.
A recent study that polled nearly 2,000 Americans found that 31.5% could not live without the enhanced unemployment checks for more than a month.
While House Democrats passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill called the HEROES Act in May, which included an extension of the unemployment benefits, Senate Republicans refused to negotiate the bill and instead waited until Monday to introduce its splintered proposal, the $1 trillion HEALS Act which represents more than one bill.
Pelosi demanded a "comprehensive bill," according to CNN reporter Manu Raju, and rejected a short-term measure or "skinny bill" as proposed by GOP leadership.
“No deal certainly becomes a greater possibility the longer these negotiations take,” Meadows told reporters, adding "I don't know that anything" could break the standoff.
Chief Critics
"The main reason unemployment benefits are poised to expire on Friday is [because] Trump's White House and the GOP are refusing to extend them," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said on Twitter. "They seem to think people can be starved into taking 30 million jobs that don't exist."
Responding to a tweet from Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) accusing Democrats of letting "relief run dry," Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tweeted, "Why'd you keep telling Americans they needed to pause for 98 DAYS while they were suffering?"
Numerous Senate Republicans have voiced criticism for the bill. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) called the total price tag a "mistake." Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) wants to gradually phase out the $600 unemployment benefits while Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) wants a separate bill to temporarily extend the weekly checks. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) knocked the bill for its lack of state and local aid, something provided in the House bill.
Key Background
President Trump weighed in on the negotiations earlier on Wednesday, throwing out his idea of a short-term bill for eviction protections. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin supported the idea if negotiations on a major bill fell apart by Friday. An eviction moratorium from the CARES Act expired last week, and the HEALS Act doesn't include any new protections.
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