August 30, 2020

Notice the silence from both moderate and hardline Senate R’s, and the absence of any statement (in the article below) from Senate Maj. Leader McConnell.Lawmakers are not expected back in Washington DC until the second week in September.   Right now the White House (and presumably Senate R’s) has come up from $1T to  $1.3T, while House Leader Pelosi has come down from $3T to $2.2T.

Meadows: ‘We’re not going to negotiate’ on coronavirus relief bill

By Evan Semones

08/30/2020 01:31 PM EDT

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Sunday drew his line in the sand on a new coronavirus relief bill, saying the Trump administration is sticking firm with its $1.3 trillion offer as talks with Democratic leadership remain at an impasse.

“Listen, we’re not going to negotiate here because the speaker’s been very clear,” Meadows told Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was inflexible.

President Donald Trump indicated on Friday that he’s willing to sign a $1.3 trillion relief bill, a $300 billion increase from the White House and Senate Republicans’ original $1 trillion offer.

Pelosi responded to the offer in a statement, insisting that Republicans’ new proposal still “continues to disregard the needs” of Americans.

Pelosi and Congressional Democrats offered earlier this month to come down to $2.2 trillion after the Democrat-control passed the nearly $3.5 trillion HEROES Act in May. The White House has rejected that, and Meadows said Pelosi needs to be more clear about what is in the legislation.

Meadows signaled said that Republicans’ new offer could pass through the Senate if Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed to the proposal.

“As you know, anything in the Senate requires both Democrats and Republicans,” Meadows said. “But Speaker Pelosi, if she worked with Chuck Schumer, I can tell you all of those things that I just mentioned are available for the American people.”