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President Donald Trump was set to meet with Senate Republicans on Tuesday, as Washington considers another round of aid to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m going over to Capitol Hill,” the president announced after concluding an event with farmers and ranchers at the White House. The visit wasn’t previously on his schedule.
Trump’s lunch meeting follows an earlier meeting held by Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.
“Very helpful,” said Mnuchin as he exited the meeting on his way to testify before the Senate Banking Committee. “Good update,” the Associated Press quoted him saying.
Last week, the Democratic-run House of Representatives approved its $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill. Analysts are saying it is likely that Trump will end up signing a new aid package into law next month or later following extensive negotiations.
The Democrats’ bill calls for almost $1 trillion in additional aid for state and local governments, a second round of direct payments to American households and $200 billion for “hazard pay” for essential workers, among other items.
McConnell has emphasized moving slower on the next round of aid. The Trump administration has called for policies including a payroll-tax cut and limiting businesses’ liabilities in cases where a worker or customer gets the coronavirus.
Meeting with restaurant executives on Monday, Trump indicated he would support an extension of a deadline for spending small-business loans to 24 weeks from the current eight weeks, as states around the country were gradually opening up from lockdowns imposed amid the pandemic.
Now see:Restaurant executives press Trump for more time to spend small-business-loan funds.
Mnuchin testified alongside Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about the $2.2 trillion relief measure passed by Congress two months ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.34% was off nearly 100 points after surging more than 900 points on Monday over hopes for a coronavirus vaccine.
Victor Reklaitis contributed to this article.
