Trump Urges Reluctant Republicans to Go Higher on COVID-19 Relief – By Reuters Staff (Newsmax) / Sept 16 2020
President Donald Trump urged his fellow Republicans Wednesday to go for “much higher numbers” in a coronavirus aid bill, as Washington remained deadlocked over economic relief from the crisis ahead of the Nov. 3 elections.
Senate Republican reaction to Trump’s appeal was mixed, but generally cautious. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement they were encouraged and hoped White House negotiators would now “meet us halfway.”
The standoff dates to mid-May, when the Democratic-majority House approved $3.4 trillion in new coronavirus aid, including unemployment benefits, money for schools, the U.S. Postal Service, and testing. Pelosi meanwhile offered to drop the demand to about $2.2 trillion.
The Senate’s Republican leaders countered with a $1 trillion plan, but some of their own members balked at that. Last week they put a $300 billion bill up for a vote that Democrats blocked as insufficient.
Continue to article: https://www.newsmax.com/us/trump-virus-relief/2020/09/16/id/987275/
