There’s no deal yet on a bipartisan coronavirus relief package, but Democratic leaders said Monday that progress has been made in negotiations.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, emerged from their latest meeting with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin — which lasted more than two hours — in better spirits than before, but said a compromise is still a ways off.
“We are really getting an understanding of each side’s position,” Mr. Schumer said. “And we’re making some progress on certain issues, moving closer together. There are a lot of issues still outstanding. But I think there is a desire to get something done as soon as we can.”
He explained that negotiators began working through the actual figures in both the Senate GOP proposal and the $3 trillion House bill.
“By going through the specific numbers and what each side thinks they can do with their dollar allocation it really helps us understand that and move in a better direction,” Mr. Schumer said.
There are several outstanding issues — for Democrats, that includes funding for food security programs and vote by mail policies — but one of the most pressing is unemployment, with boosted benefits now expired.
Democrats want to extend the extra $600 weekly payments while Republicans’ proposal sharply cut that amount to $200 a week and then to 70% of a worker’s wages.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who hasn’t joined the White House talks with Democratic leaders, said on the floor that there are partisan games afoot.
“The speaker of the House and the Democratic leader are continuing to say, ’my way or the highway,’” the Kentucky Republican said.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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