House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tamped down on talk of a stand-alone airline bill Thursday morning, saying that isn’t an option without a more comprehensive coronavirus relief deal.
“The comment that I made to the administration last night was we’re happy to review what that stand-alone bill would look like as part of a bigger bill, if there is a bigger bill, but there is no stand-alone bill,” Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, told reporters at her weekly press conference.
“We’ve told the White House we are at the table. We are at the table. We want to continue the conversation. We’ve made some progress. We’re exchanging language and then, so we’ll see how they come back,” she added.
Earlier this week, President Trump in a tweet called off negotiations for a larger negotiation for coronavirus relief but then began calling for different compromises either for the airlines, small business loans or $1,200 direct payments.
Mrs. Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin have had at least three conversations since the president called off broader negotiations on Tuesday.
Mr. Trump, however, was far more optimistic than Mrs. Pelosi, saying on Fox News Thursday morning that, “We’re starting to have some very productive talks.”
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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