House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has faced growing pressure from her party to adopt a smaller stimulus package so that Americans get the financial support they need by the end of the year.
Negotiations on another stimulus package have been going on for five months without seeing an agreement. President-elect Joe Biden stressed the importance of reaching an agreement by the end of December, and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine believes lawmakers should help the incoming administration.
“I think the Senate competitions in Georgia were a kind of premium‘ we have to try to get something. ’Because I think the two sitting senators have to go out in some way and … they have something,” the Democrat said. “Biden wants something by the end of December, we need to be able to do it.”
Steny Hoyer, the leader of the majority in the House, signaled on Friday that party leaders must compromise for quick help amid a worsening pandemic. “I just hope we can reach an agreement. Maybe that’s not all everyone wants, but at least if we can get significant help from people,” he told Roll Call. “And then we’ll be here next year. If we need other things, we’ll do others.”
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Senator Dick Durbin echoed the remarks of his congressional colleagues, calling on Pelosit to “do something significant, do what we can achieve now.”
Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer recently insisted on sticking to a $ 2.2 trillion starting point, but Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell was reluctant to move away from his $ 500 billion position.
Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons doesn’t think McConnell’s offer would be appropriate to deal with the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, but he encouraged Pelsoi and Schumer to focus on the contents of the bill rather than the price tag.
“I think we should come up with a comprehensive package that will support small businesses through another round of PPP to prepare schools, public health agencies for the distribution of vaccines,” he said. “For me, it’s less about what the top dollar is, though I’d like it to be as close to $ 2 trillion as possible, or higher than how wide.”
Newsweek turned to Pelosi’s representatives for comment.
Eight months have passed since President Donald Trump signed the CARES ACT, with both sides of the political corridor blaming each other for failing to provide further assistance to food-stricken Americans in the midst of the third wave of COVID-19. Democrats criticized the government for refusing to allow enough funding, and Republicans accused Pelosi of using the pandemic to advance his political agenda.
“[They] they’re still looking at something dramatically bigger, ”McConnell said earlier this month, standing firmly on the targeted incentive bill.
Last Wednesday, Biden suggested that Republicans should not compromise because they fear retaliation from Trump. “Hopefully, when he’s gone, they’ll be more willing to do what they know they have to do in order to save the communities they live in,” he said.
