Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

U.S. House Democrats crafting new $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief package

Published 09/24/2020, 03:21 PM
Updated 09/24/2020, 07:05 PM
© Reuters. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Neal discusses request for copies of President Donald Trump's tax returns at Capitol in Washington

© Reuters. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Neal discusses request for copies of President Donald Trump's tax returns at Capitol in Washington

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are working on a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that could be voted on next week, a key lawmaker said on Thursday, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated that she is ready to negotiate with the White House.

With formal COVID-19 relief talks stalled for nearly seven weeks, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal said new legislative efforts got under way this week after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said in congressional testimony that lawmakers needed to provide further support for an economy reeling from the pandemic.

"The contours are already there. I think now it's about time frame and things like that," Neal told reporters when asked about the potential for new legislation.

He predicted a vote could come within days. "I assume, since the House is scheduled to break for the election cycle, then I think next week's ... appropriate," said Neal, adding that Pelosi would determine when a legislative package might be introduced.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy dismissed the new initiative as partisan. Pelosi also faces pressure from moderate House Democrats who say they want to see bipartisan aid proposals that have a chance of becoming law.

"If it's a messaging exercise, it's worthless," Representative Dean Phillips, a freshman Democrat from Minnesota, told CNN. He said the effort risked looking like Senate Republicans who had unsuccessfully pushed their own partisan coronavirus aid bill.

"Many of us are getting sick of that," Phillips said.

Stocks reacting positively to the announcements from Congress, with the S&P reaching a session high shortly after, before paring some gains.

Formal talks between Pelosi, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows broke down without a deal on Aug. 7, with the two sides far apart. Pelosi and Mnuchin have since spoken by phone.

"We're ready for negotiation," Pelosi told reporters on Thursday, saying she had last spoken to Mnuchin on Wednesday.

Pelosi and Schumer, who initially sought a $3.4 trillion relief package, have since scaled back their demands to $2.2 trillion. Neal said a new legislative package would be somewhere near $2.2 trillion. Some media reports said it could be $2.4 trillion.

But it was not clear whether the White House would agree to such a sum. Meadows has said that Trump would be willing to sign a $1.3 trillion relief package.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans, who have not been involved directly in the negotiations, initially proposed a $1 trillion bill, which was rejected by many Republicans who thought it too large and by Senate Democrats who said it was too small.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill

Senate Republicans later tried and failed to bring a smaller $300 billion bill to the floor.

Latest comments

More time wasted.
Leave your radical 💩 at the door
Agreed enough of the GOP bickering!
Agreed. Enough of Trump with his silly executive orders. Of course, his dwindling base is far too uneducated to realize they are absolutely meaningless, right Andie Boy?
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.