President Donald Trump has promised that
there will be an agreement for a new large-scale economic stimulus package
, but that it will be approved by the White House until after the November 3 elections.
"After the election, we will get the best economic stimulus package that has ever been seen," the president told reporters at the White House on Tuesday afternoon.
Negotiations for an economic stimulus package that could include a direct check for $ 1,200 for Americans have stalled, despite support for the latter measure by both the president and Democrats.
Trump Retracts, Says He Will Sign Checks For $ 1,200 To Help With Coronavirus
Oct. 7, 202002: 22
Even Mitch McConnell, the Republican Majority Leader in the Senate, has publicly stated that any economic stimulus bill agreed to by House and White House Democrats would go to the vote.
[Trump and Democrats see possible a deal on the $ 1,200 check before the election. But there is another obstacle]
However, negotiations between Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi came to a standstill again this weekend after
disagreements over the federation's financial aid for states and cities.
, who face huge budget deficits due to the coronavirus crisis.
“Nancy Pelosi is only interested in rescuing mismanaged and crime-ridden Democratic cities and states.
That is all you are interested in.
He is not interested in helping people, ”Trump said Tuesday.
The president also predicted that Democrats will lose their majority in the House of Representatives because of Pelosi's role in the negotiations.
However, most analyzes indicate the opposite, that it will be the Republicans who lose seats after the November 3 vote.
[Millions of Americans face an uncertain future without federal unemployment assistance and waiting for a new economic stimulus package]
Amid the worst wave of unemployment and the largest economic contraction in the country's recent history, hopes that a stimulus package will shore up the battered economy before the elections seem more remote than ever.
Financial markets reacted to this scenario with sharp falls
on Monday that lasted until Tuesday.
"The market has recognized that the odds of passing a stimulus package before the election and even before the end of the year have dropped dramatically,"
Adam Taback, chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank
, told
The Associated Press
.
[A new relief package (including the expected second check for $ 1,200) is far from being finalized. We explain]
Even if a last minute agreement is reached between the White House and the Lower House before the election,
it is not certain that the Republican senators will be willing to vote for it immediately
and many of them have expressed reluctance to increase the government's debt with a package that would be around 2 billion dollars.
McConnell has promoted (unsuccessfully in the lower house) his own version of a 'light' economic stimulus that would cost about $ 500 billion and would not include the long-awaited $ 1,200 check.
Although Pelosi and Mnuchin continue to send the message to Americans that an agreement is still possible and continue to negotiate, lawmakers from both parties are now more focused on the elections.
After voting the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, which was approved by Republicans without Democratic support, all senators have withdrawn from Congress to campaign in the states they represent before the general election.
Pelosi said in a letter sent to Democrats this week that the financial aid could be retroactive, as compensation for time lost in negotiations.
But this scenario is unlikely if the current Administration wins on November 3,
The Washington Post
reports
.
If negotiations continue to stall this week, the future of economic aid will largely depend on the balance of forces that emerges from the elections.
With information from The Associated Press, Washington Post and The Hill.
