@SpeakerPelosi and Washington’s Most Eager Man, @stevenmnuchin1, will talk this evening at 7:30 p.m. about stimulus negotiations. It’s Oct. 17, 17 DAYS before Election Day, so we’re really late in the game here.
@SpeakerPelosi@stevenmnuchin1 MNUCHIN is leading a delegation to Israel, Bahrain and the UAE that leaves today and runs through Tuesday, so read into that as you may. (Yes, there are phones -- we get it -- but he’ll clearly have his hands full elsewhere.)
@SpeakerPelosi@stevenmnuchin1 THE TWO SIDES spent Friday on staff work -- PELOSI and MNUCHIN didn’t speak. But, as should be no surprise if you follow this space, MNUCHIN’S team did not “agree” to PELOSI’S testing plan, as he said on CNBC earlier this week.
@SpeakerPelosi@stevenmnuchin1 In fact, as of Friday night, they still had not gotten the full testing language back from MNUCHIN. Leave aside testing, they’re still apart on unemployment, state and local, etc. There are two full weeks until election week.
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Playbook this AM — a thread about status of COVID talks
TODAY -- the 91st day since Covid relief talks began -- is the day we will find out whether Congress will attempt to pass a stimulus bill before Election Day, which is TWO WEEKS from today.
@SpeakerPelosi and Washington’s Most Eager Man, @stevenmnuchin1 -- in Tel Aviv as of publication time -- will decide today if their differences are bridgeable. Or, as most Rs are whispering behind MNUCHIN’S back, we will find out how much MNUCHIN will cave to PELOSI to get a deal
THE PAIR SPOKE for an hour Monday afternoon, with MNUCHIN speaking from the Middle East. Both sides say they believe they have narrowed their differences -- but the two sides walked away with different impressions of how close they are to a deal.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS have a 2 p.m. caucus call, and Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN and Speaker NANCY PELOSI will speak at 3 p.m. about Covid relief negotiations. …
-- STILL AT ISSUE: state and local money (Republicans are at $300 billion, and Democrats are asking for $436 billion) … child care money … the earned income tax credit … health care provisions.
-- THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES in the House and Senate are now holding bipartisan staff-level conversations about drafting a Covid relief bill -- this is just the beginning of what could be a long and arduous process.
@SpeakerPelosi and Washington’s Most Eager Man, @stevenmnuchin1, are likely to speak about Covid relief this afternoon -- the 90th day since talks between the administration and PELOSI began back in July.
2 THINGS ARE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW: Rs on Capitol Hill are worried that @MNuchin and @realDonaldTrump will throw aside their concerns and agree to a $2 trillion-plus deal.
DEMOCRATS are wondering if the White House even wants a deal -- especially after MNUCHIN went on television last week and said he would accept the Democrats’ testing plan, but later struck 55% of what PELOSI had drawn up.
Playbook this AM: Is Covid relief ever going to happen?
Washington’s Most Eager Man @stevenmnuchin1 said yesterday that getting a Covid deal before the election is going to be tough.
I agree
There are lots of real-world implications that @JStein_WaPo does a good job laying out
@stevenmnuchin1@JStein_WaPo BUT THERE’S SOMETHING that’s not getting nearly enough attention: It seems completely plausible that Covid relief not only will be delayed for now, but could be delayed for several months, and could even slip into late in the first quarter of 2021.
@stevenmnuchin1@JStein_WaPo LET’S explore that. FOR ARGUMENT’S SAKE, let’s assume the Democrats definitely keep control of the House -- as everyone is predicting.
Let’s just acknowledge the W.H. doesnt want a lame-duck covid bill. They often don’t know what they want
— TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: @ericgarcetti (This would be a big job in an administration that will certainly push for big infrastructure spending in the first quarter of 2021.)
Trump appears to be living in lala land — as stated on @MariaBartiromo’s fox news show — as he said @SpeakerPelosi is the obstacle to a deal Bc she won’t sign some document. (I have idea what he’s talking about)