It’s been eight months since Congress passed their stimulus package, the CARES Act. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a grave problem for those in the United States, Americans have been wondering whether Congress will be able to negotiate another package. According to CNBC, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin recently said that he, along with other GOP leaders, will try to draft another stimulus bill with Democrats in the upcoming weeks.
Now that former Vice President Joe Biden is the projected winner of the presidential election, attention has turned towards enacting another stimulus package amidst the ongoing health crisis. On Friday, Mnuchin said that he and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows would meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to discuss their plan for another stimulus package. Mnuchin has been leading President Donald Trump’s stimulus discussions for months alongside Meadows. The Treasury Secretary recently shared his hopes that he would be able to come to an agreement with Democrat leaders Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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“I can tell you Mark Meadows and I will be speaking with Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy this morning,” Mnuchin said. “And we are going to come up with a plan to sit down with Pelosi and Schumer and try to get a targeted bill done for the people that really need it. And hopefully the Democrats will work with us.” McConnell also released a statement on Friday about stimulus negotiations in which he noted that Republicans are in support of enacting another package.
“Republicans continue to support passing these kinds of urgent and targeted measures as soon as possible,” the Kentucky senator said. “American workers should not lose their jobs needlessly when a second round of the job-saving Paycheck Protection Program for the hardest-hit small businesses would make a huge difference.” He added, “Our medical system should not be denied additional support, including for distributing the life-saving vaccines that appear to be on the horizon.” Republicans and Democrats have been trying to negotiate another stimulus package over the past few months now without success. The Democrat-led House did pass a $3 trillion stimulus package, the HEROES Act, in May (which they have updated to reflect a total closer to $2.2 trillion), but it has made no further headway in Congress.
