Trump urges reluctant Republicans to go higher on coronavirus relief
Send a link to a friend
[September 17, 2020]
By Susan Cornwell and David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald
Trump urged his fellow Republicans on Wednesday to go for "much higher
numbers" in a coronavirus aid bill, as Washington remained deadlocked
over economic relief from the crisis ahead of the Nov. 3 elections.
"Go for the much higher numbers, Republicans, it all comes back to the
USA anyway (one way or another!)" Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday.
Later in the day he spoke favorably about a proposal for $1.5 trillion
in aid made by a bipartisan group of centrist lawmakers.
"They're well on their way to suggesting some pretty good things," Trump
said about the centrist plan during an evening press conference. "I
agree with a lot of it. The things I don't agree with, we can probably
negotiate".
Senate Republicans, whose last coronavirus aid offer was $300 billion
and some of whom would prefer doing nothing more, reacted cautiously to
Trump.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Sep/17/images/ads/current/graue_20ENCORE_090820.png)
But Democrats Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, said in a joint statement
they were encouraged and hoped White House negotiators would now "meet
us halfway."
Pelosi spoke by phone on Wednesday to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin,
who has helped negotiate previous coronavirus aid packages. They talked
about a government funding bill, and at the end of the conversation,
Pelosi reiterated the points she had made in her statement with Schumer,
Pelosi's spokesman said on Twitter.
The Washington standoff over coronavirus relief dates to mid-May, when
the Democratic-majority House approved $3.4 trillion in new aid,
including unemployment benefits, money for schools, the U.S. Postal
Service, and testing. Pelosi meanwhile offered to drop the demand to
about $2.2 trillion.
The Senate's Republican leaders countered with a $1 trillion plan, but
some of their own members balked at that. Last week they put a $300
billion bill up for a vote that Democrats blocked as insufficient.
Congress and the White House approved more than $3 trillion worth of
coronavirus relief measures earlier this year.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/091720PIX/news_u41.jpg)
President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at the Arizona
Grand Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona U.S., September 14, 2020.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
![](../images/ads/current/fitzpatrick_lda_SPONSOR_2017.png)
The Senate's number two Republican John Thune said on Wednesday
proposals should stay in a "realistic" range. Noting the original $1
trillion Senate Republican plan, he said: "As you go upwards from
there you start ... losing Republican support pretty quickly."
The $1.5 trillion compromise floated Tuesday by the House Problem
Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan centrist group, was attacked by members
of both parties. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, however,
said it deserved consideration.
The approaching elections increase the political stakes for
Republicans and Democrats. Pelosi faces growing pressure from
moderate House Democrats for more action on COVID-19 relief. Some of
them welcomed Trump's tweet on Wednesday, including Representative
Max Rose, from a competitive congressional district in Staten
Island, New York.
Rose said leaders of both parties should "Stop the game, stop the
stupidity and get to work" on a coronavirus aid plan.
Several Senate Republicans said their recent $300 billion offer was
about the right amount, signaling doubt they could go higher.
"So the president has his opinion, we have ours," Senator Ron
Johnson said.
(Reporting by Susan Cornwell and David Morgan; additional reporting
by Alexandra Alper and Andrea Shalal; editing by Jonathan Oatis and
Timothy Gardner)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Sep/17/images/ads/current/debbiesflora_lda_090220.png) |