WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2020) US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refuses to resume negotiations on a COVID-19 relief package until the Trump administration raises its top-line offer from $1 trillion to $2 trillion, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in press release.
"Earlier today, Speaker Pelosi and I spoke by phone," Mnuchin said on Wednesday. "She made clear that she was unwilling to meet to continue negotiations unless we agreed in advance to her proposal, costing at least $2 trillion."
Pelosi issued a joint statement with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accusing the administration of failing to grasp the magnitude of hardships faced by American families.
"Democrats have compromised. Repeatedly, we have made clear to the administration that we are willing to come down $1 trillion if they will come up $1 trillion," the statement said.
The initial Democratic plan proposed a more than $3 trillion relief package while the Trump administration said it wants the package to be limited to $1 trillion.
The recalcitrance on both sides caused $600 weekly payments to unemployed workers to expire in July, although President Donald Trump is attempting to resume payments at $400 by using an executive order that bypasses Congress.
