Jared Kusher is the latest official to speculate that a relief plan likely won’t be agreed upon until after the presidential election. Appearing on CNBC’s Squawk Box, the senior advisor to the president admitted the country needs help amid the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the economy but that he believes Congress will hold things up because of how political things have become in negotiations.
While talks have not progressed as quickly as many Americans would hope, Kushner explained that before anything ever gets passed, there’s always going to be a push back, “As you know, in all negotiations everyone’s at ‘no’ before they get to ‘yes.’” He touched on the differences, although not getting into specifics, “It may have to happen after the election because there are politics involved. This is Washington.” The Senate has shot down multiple plans that have been placed in front of them, with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell seeing the bill he backed fail to pass through.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Kushner was also asked about his father-in-law’s executive order that plans to lower drug prices, agreeing that Americans should not be expected to pay as much as they do or more than other European countries. “If you’re the largest customer from somebody, you should be getting the best price, not the worst price.”
Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican who hails from Kansas, shared a similar belief regarding a stimulus plan, even going as far to say they’ve hit a “dead end.” Sen. Ted Cruz previously mentioned any agreement would likely have to wait until after the November vote. “I think politically they’ve made a determination that the more people who are broke and pissed off… the better it is for Joe Biden and their side electorally,” he explained.
As negotiations continue to stall, the coronavirus continues to cause troubles for the economy and the country as cases continue to pile up. The United States has reported more than 6.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases with 195,000 deaths. With schools back in session in many areas and not adjusting to a virtual setting, more and more cases are being linked to the education system. New York reported 56 schools having cases, with one Brooklyn school already temporarily closing. Colleges are also being hit hard as the University of Colorado Boulder has begun seeing the impact of the coronavirus on its student body. There have been recommendations from the University for all students to quarantine after the latest outbreak.
