Talks on virus stimulus fail

Special Desk

Negotiations at the US Congress on another stimulus package for the coronavirus-ravaged economy have collapsed.

Democrats and Republicans remain in stalemate over everything – from unemployment benefits to financial aid for schools to cash injections for states. US unemployment rate stands at 10.2%, above any level during the 2008 financial crisis. Jobless benefits have expired, as did a federal moratorium on evictions.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful elected Democrat, held a meeting in her Capitol Hill office with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Pelosi said in a news conference that she was willing to offer a compromise.

“We’ll go down one trillion, you go up one trillion,” she told reporters as she staked out her position, adding: “We have a moral responsibility to find common ground.”

In May, her Democratic-controlled chamber passed a $3.5tn (£2.7tn) stimulus bill. But it was rejected by President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans who hold sway in the Senate.

As he entered Pelosi’s office on Friday, Mr Mnuchin called her proposal “a non-starter”. Republicans prefer a package closer to $1tn total and want any deal to include legal protections for employers against virus-related health claims from workers.

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Negotiations have been going on for the past two weeks, as the US death toll from the coronavirus pandemic surpasses 160,000. US has far more Covid-19 cases by volume than any other country – more than 4.9 million – and its rate of infection has risen steadily throughout the summer.

Congress has already allocated some $3tn for pandemic relief so far. Some Republicans in Congress do not wish to spend any more. Nearly half of Republican senators say they would oppose any new relief bill at all. Following the 90-minute meeting Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer told reporters it was “disappointing”.