House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has commented on the status of the second stimulus check bill, saying that Democrats are holding out for a bigger agreement. During an interview on the Sway podcast — which is hosted by New York Times op-ed writer Kara Swisher — Pelosi made her stance very clear by criticizing her GOP peers for not wanting to invest more money into helping the American people with financial relief, during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. She also blasted President Donald Trump for wanting to have his name printed on the stimulus payment relief checks.
“We have to meet their needs, not give the president a chance to just say, ‘I’m going to put my name on a check, send it out, and don’t talk to me about food, rent, first responders, health care workers, the virus, or anything else,’” Pelosi stated. “That’s all he wants is his name on a check that goes out.” The House Speaker also double-downed on her criticism of the “skinny” stimulus package proposed by Congressional Republicans. “Fourteen million children in America are food insecure and their families as well,” Pelosi asserted, referring to millions of families are facing potential eviction due to the financial fallout caused by the pandemic. “None of that is covered in what the Republicans have put forth. The virus needs to be crushed.”
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For my first episode of Sway, I spoke with @speakerpelosi about RBG’s power, McConnell’s vow to replace her, and why Pelosi hasn’t spoken to President Trump in almost a year. Listen! And hit that subscribe button! https://t.co/XE6qzJTKrT
— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) September 21, 2020
Notably, even Trump has called on Republican lawmakers to increase the size of their spending for the next stimulus bill. “I want to see people get money,” he previously stated. However, GOP leaders are not keen on this, with Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley recently commenting. “This used to be the White House versus Pelosi up until about now,” he said. “Now the president’s coming in and saying we can maybe go to $1.5 trillion.” Grassley added, “He better be careful of that because I don’t think that will get through the United States Senate.”
Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer were previously engaged in negotiations over a second stimulus bill with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief-of-Staff Mark Meadows. The talks fell apart, however, when the two sides could not reach an agreement. At this time, there is no word on when the talks may resume.
