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Mark Meadows, White House chief of staff, left, and Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury secretary, speak to members of the media after a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, said Friday he had offered $1.3 trillion to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as the size of the next big coronavirus stimulus package.
The two talked Thursday for about 25 minutes, according to Pelosi’s office, with little progress appearing to be made. After the phone call, Pelosi issued a statement saying Democrats had offered to trim their proposal to a total of $2.2 trillion but said the White House needed to add money to their package.
Meadows on Friday portrayed Pelosi as unwilling to deal.
“Wouldn’t $1.3 trillion of aid that goes largely to agreed-upon and shared goals of helping people who are hurting the most — $1.3 [trillion], which is more than the aid we sent during the 2008 meltdown — $1.3 trillion of aid, she said ‘no’ to,” Meadows told reporters on the White House grounds Friday.
Pelosi said Thursday Republicans were not taking the process seriously.
“Democrats are willing to resume negotiations once Republicans start to take this process seriously. Lives, livelihoods and the life of our democracy are at stake,” she said.
Meadows Friday kept open the option of the White House taking further steps using presidential authority to try to provide economic help even as talks remain mostly dormant. He regularly updates Republican senators on where things stand while lawmakers enjoy their summer break.
“I had a conversation with senators this morning that we not only need to help with the enhanced unemployment, but small business, aid to schools, making sure daycare provisions are augmented in this unprecedented time,” he said.
