Deadline looms, but COVID relief deal may be far off

Deadline looms, but COVID relief deal may be far off

SeattlePI.com

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WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reported some progress in advance of a Tuesday deadline for reaching a pre-election deal with President Donald Trump on a new coronavirus relief package, but the same core problems bedeviling the effort remain in place despite optimistic talk from the president and his team.

Pelosi negotiated for nearly an hour Monday with Trump’s top emissary, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and her office said they are continuing to narrow their differences.

“Finally, they have come to the table and we're going to try to get something done,” Pelosi said on MSNBC Monday evening. She said the two sides would take stock on Tuesday, which she has staked out as the deadline if a deal is to be reached before the election.

“Let's make a judgment. We may not like this, we may not like that but let's see on balance if we can go forward," Pelosi said.

But with time nearly up for Congress and the White House to deliver aid to Americans before the election, the question remains: If not now, when?

It’s a key consideration for Trump, who has talked up the prospect of another package as he asks voters for a second term, and for Democrats hopeful that their nominee, Joe Biden, is on the cusp of winning the White House in November.

“Nancy Pelosi at this moment does not want to do anything that’s going to affect the election," Trump said during a campaign swing in Arizona.

The dynamic has created a tricky position for Pelosi, whose tough approach to the talks amid durable GOP opposition to a potential deal of almost $2 trillion has left all sides staring at the very real potential of the negotiations failing. Pelosi is angling for the best deal she can get — maybe that’s now, maybe it’s later. It’s a risk she’s willing to...

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