WASHINGTON: U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday said Democrats were prepared to delay an October recess to get a deal with Republicans on a new coronavirus aid bill, as a group of moderates unveiled a $1.5 trillion bipartisan plan they hoped would break a deadlock.
With the U.S. presidential and congressional elections less than two months away, Republicans and Democrats have been unable to agree on a fifth coronavirus bill, having approved more than $3 trillion worth of measures earlier this year.
“We are committed to staying here until we have an agreement,” Pelosi, a Democrat, said in a CNBC interview, adding that there were disagreements with Republicans on how to “crush the virus” that has now killed more than 194,000 people in the United States.
The House was scheduled to recess no later than Oct. 2 so members can go home to campaign for re-election on Nov. 3.
Congress still must pass legislation funding the government beyond Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters that a stopgap money bill would be put to a vote in that chamber next week.
Hoyer, a Democrat, said the Problem Solvers Caucus call for $1.5 trillion in new aid was helpful, but more was needed to confront a pandemic that has cost millions of U.S. jobs and shown few signs of abating.
‘CAN’T WAIT’
The Problem Solvers Caucus, including 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans, has been working to find common ground on coronavirus relief for the past six weeks.
“We can’t wait,” Representative Josh Gottheimer, the group’s Democratic co-chairman, told a news conference, saying the proposal was intended to get the two sides back to the table.
The gulf between Democrats in Congress and the White House is wide. In mid-May, the House approved a $3.4 trillion aid plan. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responded by calling for a “pause” in any new funds.
Representative Tom Reed, the Problem Solvers’ Republican co-chairman, said Republican leaders and the White House were “positive” about the plan. “They want to get a deal,” he told reporters.
The new bipartisan House proposal includes another round of direct checks to Americans, $500 billion for state and local governments, and jobless benefits, with spending lasting through January’s presidential inauguration.
Trump on Tuesday also cited the need for more funding but sought to cast blame on the House speaker, telling Fox News in an interview: “We could use additional stimulus, but Nancy Pelosi won’t approve it because she thinks it’s bad for me in the election.”
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