Schumer, Pelosi want $3.4T as 'starting point' in new COVID-19 relief talks
From THEHILL.COM
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday morning said the $3.4 trillion Heroes Act passed by House Democrats in May should be the “starting point” for negotiations with Senate Republicans and the White House on a new round of coronavirus relief legislation.
The Democratic leaders appeared to step back from their pre-election offer to White House negotiators to slim down the total size of the package to $2.2 trillion.
Even though Democrats lost seats in the House and face long odds of retaking the Senate majority, Schumer and Pelosi said President-elect Joe Biden’s victory is what counts.
“The Heroes Act should be the starting point, not an emaciated bill that prioritizes protections for corporations and considers the needs of American families as an afterthought,” Schumer told reporters at a joint press conference with Pelosi.
“The Heroes Act, passed in the House, does meet this moment. It doesn’t pick and choose who we’re going to help during the greatest health and economic crisis in decades,” he argued.
Asked if Democratic leaders had changed their position at all on the next coronavirus relief package, Pelosi said passing the Heroes Act has always been their goal.
“It has been our position all along to crush the virus, honor our heroes, put money in the pockets of the American people,” she said.
Pelosi said Democrats received a mandate for their go-big approach on Election Day.
“What Joe Biden got in this election was a mandate, a mandate to address the challenges that our country faces as well as to have a positive initiative on how to grow the economy in a fair way and in order to do that we must address the pandemic,” she said.
The House passed a $3.4 trillion relief package in May and then passed a smaller $2.2 trillion relief package in October.
Shortly before the election, Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were talking about a potential deal between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday morning said a COVID-19 relief package in the ballpark of $500 billion would be more appropriate.
"My view is the level at which the economy is improving further underscores that we need to do something about the amount that we... (Read more)
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