Even with the U.S. still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, Washington fell short in delivering more stimulus before the election, whipsawed by President Donald Trump and hobbled by the diverging agendas of the top Republican and Democrat in Congress. Now, voters will help decide what happens next.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a self-proclaimed “master legislator,” entered the talks in July with a reputation for legislative acumen honed over years of consequential budget battles and in previous showdowns with Trump. She put in her bid for an even bigger pandemic rescue plan than the $2 trillion package passed in March.
Unlike in March, when both parties rallied around the Cares Act as the virus prompted nationwide shutdowns, the Trump administration couldn’t side with Pelosi even if it wanted. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and many of his fellow Republicans resisted any stimulus of much more than $1 trillion, and especially the massive state and local aid sought by Democrats. Some in the GOP didn’t think the economy needed more aid.
There also was a lack of trust in the White House negotiating team. Senate Republicans blamed Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for giving away too much in the $2 trillion plan passed in March. Democrats were suspicious of White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who joined the administration in March after building a reputation during more than seven years in the House as an uncompromising partisan.
Now there is less than three weeks before the Nov. 3 election, and Mnuchin said that “reality” is getting in the way. The Treasury chief said Thursday the administration is “not giving up” on a deal, although he’s planning to head to the Middle East next week.
The next steps will hinge on whether Trump is re-elected and the GOP holds on to its Senate majority or Democrat Joe Biden wins and Democrats sweep into control of both chambers of Congress.
“The root problem with reaching a deal is that neither party seems to feel that it will be blamed by voters for the stalemate,” said Sarah Binder, a political science professor at George Washington University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
For Trump, the idea of embracing the House Democrats’ plan -- which began at $3.4 trillion in May before getting trimmed to $2.2 trillion by early October -- was at odds with his narrative that the economy was rebounding handsomely. In August he claimed at a White House briefing the U.S. was leading the global recovery.
The president’s erratic moves since he contracted Covid-19 also served to undermine his own team. He took them out of talks on Oct. 6, only to send them back later the same week, calling for an even bigger package than the $1.6 trillion they had previously tried to sell to Pelosi.
Still, Mnuchin said Thursday Trump remains determined to get a larger stimulus package.