Pelosi and Schumer Say New $908 Bill. Covid Relief Bill is a "Good Starting Point"
Updated: Dec 4, 2020
What Happened:
On Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) said they supported the new bipartisan $908 Billion Coronavirus Relief Bill as a good starting point for negotiations.
This is the second major concession by the Democrats on the relief bill. Originally, Republicans were seeking a bill of around $1 trillion and Democrats were seeking a bill of $3 trillion plus, which left negotiations at a standstill. Democrats later proposed a reduced $2.2 trillion bill in September but were still unable to reach a deal with the Republican led Senate which was looking at a proposal closer to $1.2 trillion.
With public pressure increasing and the need for relief growing, the new bipartisan $908 Billion relief bill was introduced by Senators a few days back and seems to be gaining some traction now that the Democratic leaders support the bill as a "good starting point."
In a joint statement, Pelosi and Schumer wrote, "In the spirit of compromise, we believe the bipartisan framework introduced by Senators yesterday should be used as the basis for immediate bipartisan, bicameral negotiations. Of course, we and others will offer improvements, but the need to act is immediate and we believe that with good-faith negotiations we could come to an agreement."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) rejected the new bill on Tuesday saying he supported a more targeted $500 billion proposal. He also mentioned the importance of a new spending bill to avoid a government shutdown on Dec. 11 and said both bills would "likely come in one package."
Developing Story
Photo Credit: United States Congress
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