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President-elect Joe Biden says he wants a deal.
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President-elect Joe Biden on Friday pressed Congress to cut a quick deal on COVID-19 relief, but said aid will be a long-term prospect as the country struggles with the pandemic.
Speaking after a weaker-than-expected November jobs report, Biden said the “grim” data showed a stalling economy but “it doesn’t have to stay that way if we act now.”
“Americans need help and they need it now,” the Democratic president-elect said.
Biden spoke in Wilmington, Del., as negotiations were intensifying on Capitol Hill on a fresh coronavirus relief package. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat, on Friday said there was “momentum” to the talks, after speaking Thursday with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican.
Even if lawmakers pass an aid package in the lame-duck session of Congress, Biden said, it won’t be enough. He said he was aiming to propose hundreds of billions in relief.
Biden was asked if he’d spoken with McConnell but sidestepped those questions.
This week, Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said a roughly $900 billion aid package should be a basis for negotiations. Democrats prior to the election insisted on a more than $2 trillion package, a size McConnell rejected. The Kentucky lawmaker has proposed a smaller package.
See: Pelosi says there is ‘momentum’ for deal on COVID aid
Sticking points between Democrats and Republicans on a COVID deal include the size of aid to states and liability protections for businesses and others. McConnell has pushed those protections but some Democrats want to limit them.
U.S. stock indexes SPX, +0.88% closed at new records Friday after the jobs report showed fewer positions were created in November than had been estimated by economists, perhaps bolstering the case for further fiscal stimulus from Congress.
Related: ‘Job growth has seriously slowed’ — economists react to ‘disappointing’ November employment report
