US House Speaker, Treasury Chief Closer To 'Putting Pen To Paper' On Stimulus - Spokesman

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd October, 2020) US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are closer to putting pen to paper on a coronavirus stimulus deal after talks between them since the weekend, the speaker's Deputy Chief of Staff, Drew Hammill, said in a statement.

"Today's conversation brings us closer to being able to put pen to paper to write legislation," Hammill said in a series of tweets on Wednesday. "With the exchange of legislative language, we are better prepared to reach compromise on several priorities."

Congress, led by Pelosi, reached agreement with the White House in March, to pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) stimulus, dispensing roughly $3 trillion as paycheck protection for workers, loans and grants for businesses and other personal aid for qualifying citizens and residents.

Since then, the two sides have been locked in a stalemate on a successive relief plan. The dispute has basically been over the size of the next stimulus as thousands of Americans, particularly those in the airlines sector, risked losing their jobs without further aid.

Negotiations resumed at the weekend after Pelosi gave the White House a 48-hour deadline to reach a deal or risk forgoing one before the November 3 US election where Trump faces Democrat challenger Joe Biden. The House Speaker had also set a $2 trillion as the starting point for negotiations, although she said she would consider the Trump administration's offer, which stood at $1.8-$1.9 trillion.

Hammill said there was still a gap between Pelosi and Mnuchin on various issues, including the reopening of schools � which Trump has been demanding for across the country so that parents could return to work and help economic recovery. The president, trailing his challenger in polls for the November 3 election, is counting on the restart of the economy, which was resilient before the COVID-19, to get a second term of office.

"Differences continue to be narrowed on health priorities, including language providing a national strategic testing and contract tracing plan, but more work needs to be done to ensure that schools are the safest places in America for children to learn," Hammill tweeted. "The Speaker and Secretary plan to speak again tomorrow hopefully with further guidance from committee chairs as they work to resolve open questions."

The US economy shrank 34.3 percent in the second quarter of 2020 for its sharpest decline since the financial crisis of 2008/09, as of the 50 states in the country went into lockdown to stem the outbreak of the COVID-19 between March and May. While almost all sectors of the economy have largely reopened since, jobs and business growth have been slow.

Some 21 million jobs were lost between March and April, at the height of lockdowns forced by the pandemic. About 2.5 million positions were added back in May and 4.8 million in June, before the recovery began slowing. For all of September, there were just 661,000 job additions.