Pelosi rejects latest White House stimulus offer as 'wholly insufficient'

GettyImages 1228989987 — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the United States, on Oct. 9, 2020.
Ting Shen/Xinhua via Getty

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday sent a letter to her Democratic colleagues calling the Trump administration's latest stimulus offer "wholly insufficient."
Over the weekend, the White House proposed a $1.8 trillion measure, a figure that's too high for many Senate Republicans and too low for House Democrats.
On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urged Democrats to pass a measure repurposing leftover funds from the Paycheck Protection Program.
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The Trump administration's latest stimulus proposal is "grossly inadequate," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to her Democratic colleagues on Sunday, suggesting Congress and the White House are no closer to a deal on a coronavirus relief package.

Over the weekend, the White House proposed a $1.8 trillion stimulus measure, angering both Senate Republicans, who consider that number far too high, and House Democrats, who passed a $2.2 trillion proposal last month.

The White House proposal includes a $400 boost in weekly unemployment insurance, $1,200 stimulus checks for US adults, and $1,000 checks for each child, The Washington Post reported.

Democrats have pushed for a $600 increase in weekly unemployment benefits and $1,200 checks for child dependents, as well as substantially more funding for state and local governments.

In her Oct. 11 letter, Pelosi decried the administration's proposal, saying the disagreements have to do with more than the top-line numbers.

"[I]n terms of addressing testing, tracing, and treatment, what the Trump administration has offered is wholly insufficient," she wrote.

Senate Republicans are equally unimpressed, CNN reported. "I don't get it," Florida Sen. Rick Scott told White House officials on a phone call this weekend, two sources told the news outlet. Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn said the larger White House proposal would "deflate" the GOP base, the sources said.

With a deal between the White House and Congress seemingly out of reach, the Trump administration is also lobbying for a stimulus measure that would repurpose $135 billion in leftover funds from the Paycheck Protection Program, Politico reported.

Democrats have previously shown little interest in the idea, complaining about a lack of transparency with respect to how PPP funds were used — and seeking a much larger stimulus for an economy in recession.

In their appeal, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urged an end to the impasse, which last week saw President Trump call off negotiations before reversing himself in the wake of bipartisan anger.

"The all-or-nothing approach is an unacceptable response to the American people," the officials wrote.

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