House Speaker Nancy Pelosi set an arbitrary deadline of 48 hours for the Trump administration to capitulate in talks to achieve a COVID relief stimulus bill, saying the President needs to demonstrate that he is serious about helping the people.
“Where we have agreement, we don’t have agreement in the language yet, but I’m hopeful,” Pelosi said Sunday morning. “The difference amounts to this, if you think of it this simple way: when you say ‘may,’ you’re giving the president a slush fund.”
Pelosi and House Democrats have both stalled on negotiating in good faith with the Trump team and inserted radical measures that were sure to achieve disagreement in negotiations.
In late August when negotiations broke down, Pelosi was defiantly adamant about standing her ground saying, “They have to move…They are just going to have to come up with more money.”
Pelosi: "We're not budging. Understand this –"
Reporter: "Then how do you break the impasse?"
Pelosi: "They have to move." pic.twitter.com/qEpGAWPpww
— The Hill (@thehill) August 27, 2020
Days before an October 1, 2020, fiscal deadline for the nation’s airlines, Pelosi again held fast to spendthrift provisions in a COVID relief stimulus bill saying, “We only have a couple of days before many people will lose their jobs who are employed by airlines. That’s a date certain, September 30th. So, we want to move quickly on this.”
In that proposal Pelosi wanted to provide stimulus checks to illegal immigrants and grant amnesty to those who exist in the country illegally, as well, two non-starters for the GOP.
“There remains an array of additional differences as we go provision by provision that must be addressed in a comprehensive manner in the next 48 hours,” Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi, tweeted Saturday night. “Decisions must be made by the White House in order to demonstrate that the Administration is serious about reaching a bipartisan agreement that provides for Americans with the greatest needs during the pandemic.”
… address the virus’ disproportionate impact on communities of color. There remains an array of additional differences as we go provision by provision that must be addressed in a comprehensive manner in the next 48 hours. Decisions must be made by the White House… (2/3)
— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) October 18, 2020
Meanwhile, President Trump has repeatedly said he is willing to sign a much larger stimulus package than what Democrats or Republicans have offered. “I’m ready to sign a big, beautiful stimulus,” the President said at the NBC town hall October 15, 2020.