Republicans, Democrats Far Apart in Stimulus Talks, Trump Says
President Donald Trump said the White House, Democrats, and Republicans are divided on passing a COVID-19 relief package.
“We ought to work on the evictions so that people dont get evicted, to work on the payments to the people, and the rest of it,” Trump said at the White House on July 28. “Were so far apart, we dont care.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, meanwhile, told reporters that the two sides should work on a short-term deal.
Trump says there are provisions in the GOP package unveiled a day earlier that he doesnt support, he told reporters on July 28.
“Yeah, there are, actually,” he said. “And well be talking about it. There are also things that I very much support. But well be negotiating. Its sort of semi-irrelevant because the Democrats come with their needs and asks, and the Republicans go with theirs.”
Trump said he will discuss the matter with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other congressional leaders.
One point of contention among the White House and Senate Republicans is a payroll tax cut wanted by Trump.
McConnell referred to the GOP bill, dubbed the HEALS Act, a starting point for negotiations, an assertion reiterated by Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on July 27.
“This legislation serves as a starting point for bipartisan negotiations,” Grassley said on the floor of the Senate. “I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to not let partisan differences derail progress.”
Democratic leaders criticized the delays and measures in the GOP plan. Members of Congress took a nearly three-week break in July.
“Republicans dithered for 3 months while Democrats pleaded for action on COVID,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote on Twitter on July 28. “And now that Republicans finally have a proposal, its corporate-focused, doesnt meet the needs of the American people, and half of their own caucus probably wont support it anyway!”
McConnell, however, has said that the Democrat-passed HEROES AcRead More From Source
