President Donald Trump‘s higher bid for a stimulus deal was rejected by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said it wouldn’t get support from Republicans.
“He’s talking about a much larger amount than I can sell to my members,” McConnell said of administration’s offer to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats.
As he trails in polls with the election less that three weeks away, Trump said on Fox Business Thursday that he would go still higher than the $1.8 trillion the White House has already proposed to get a deal. He blamed Pelosi, who wants a $2.2 trillion package, for standing in the way.
McConnell, though, said at a news conference in Kentucky that the administration has already gone beyond what Republicans in the Senate could support, all but killing any chance for a stimulus in the near term. Instead, McConnell is going forward with a vote next week on a narrow stimulus plan worth roughly $500 billion to aid an economy still reeling from pandemic-induced shutdowns.
That amount is “what we think is appropriate to tackle this dread disease,” he said at one of several appearances in his home state.
Pelosi is scheduled to have another call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Thursday in a continuing saga of talks on another fiscal boost for the economy.
Investor disappointment over the continuing impasse in the U.S. and new virus restrictions in Europe have contributed to declines in the S&P 500 Index this week. The gauge was down 0.5% as of 1:36 p.m. New York time, heading for a third consecutive drop.
‘Not Giving Up’
Mnuchin said earlier Thursday that Pelosi’s “all or nothing approach doesn’t make sense for the American people,” but that the administration is “not giving up” trying for an agreement.
The president expressed frustration with Mnuchin, his main negotiator. “So far he hasn’t come home with the bacon,” Trump said.
Trump indicated he’d be open to calling Pelosi on the stimulus but doubted it would result in a deal. The two haven’t spoken directly in about a year.
Trump, who canceled negotiations last week and only days later reversed course to advocate a bigger stimulus than congressional Republicans support, said that Pelosi has “a lot of mental health problems and it’s going to be very hard to do anything with her.”