Pelosi, Mnuchin Resume Broad Stimulus Talks

By Dana Cruz First Posted: Oct 08, 2020 09:46 PM EDT

Stimulus talks resumed once more for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday.

According to the speaker's spokesman Drew Hammill, Pelosi and Mnuchin engaged in a phone conversation about "whether there is any prospect of an imminent agreement on a comprehensive bill."

In a Bloomberg TV interview, Pelosi said she was confident that she could have an agreeable stimulus talk with Mnuchin to reach a deal.

According to Reuters, in their stimulus talks, she made it clear that there was an understanding that aid to airlines had "to be in the context of a fuller bill."

"We're at the table. We want to continue the conversation," Pelosi told reporters. "We've made some progress, we're exchanging language."

U.S. House Speaker Pelosi departs a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington

(Photo : REUTERS/Erin Scott)
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi departs a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. October 8, 2020.

Hammill added that, as per the talks with Mnuchin, Trump was also interested in finding a broad stimulus package. Generally, this means it will cover a range of issues: jobless benefits, direct payments, state and local government relief, and airline aid, said a CNBC report.

The speaker chose to take Mnuchin's word that Trump does indeed want a broad stimulus proposal, said Hammill. This is in spite of comments from White House communications director Alyssa Farah saying it was doubtful that Trump would still want a broad stimulus.

According to Hammill, Pelosi was going to trust that Mnuchin is speaking on behalf Trump.

Farah told reporters that the White House will be open for a bigger package, but not with the $2.2 proposal laid out by Pelosi in recent talks.

She said Trump was open to a "skinny" stimulus bill, despite the speaker's insistence on a comprehensive measure.

Stimulus talks have turned into a confusing back-and-forth between the White House and Congress. It left many Americans wondering if a deal will ever be in place before elections.

Still, there is no indication that the negotiators are getting closer to a breakthrough deal that can solve their differences, said a Wall Street Journal report.

So far, both sides were still $700 billion apart with their offers before Trump called off talks.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell believes putting stimulus back on the table was part of the effort to make this gap smaller. He is hopeful that there will be a way forward with the stimulus as it is being discussed daily.

Trump Says Stimulus Talks Now 'Working Out'

Earlier this week, the discussions were halted by President Donald Trump. But he reiterated that he would support individual relief bills for airline aid and direct payment checks.

But two days after this, he said he was open to working towards a "bigger deal." He wanted to create a broader package that was not focused on rescuing airlines only, said a report from The Hill.

Trump said they were both talking about airlines and "talking about a bigger deal than airlines."

In a phone interview with Fox Business Network, he said shutting down talks two days ago was only done because "they weren't working out." But now, he thinks the stimulus was moving forward.