Joshua Roberts/Reuters
- US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that shared a $916 billion stimulus proposal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
- The proposal "includes money for state and local governments," Mnuchin said, "and robust liability protections for businesses, schools, and universities."
- Mnuchin made no mention of new stimulus checks, but the package includes $600 payments, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Bloomberg.
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The White House has offered a new $916 billion stimulus proposal that is slightly larger than the bipartisan measure currently being considered in the US Senate.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in a statement issued Tuesday evening, said the measure includes "money for state and local governments," as well as "robust liability protection for businesses, schools, and universities."
—Steven Mnuchin (@stevenmnuchin1) December 8, 2020
He said he had discussed the package in a phone conversation with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mnuchin made no mention of new stimulus checks or federal unemployment insurance in the statement. However, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, said the package includes $600 direct payments, plus an additional $600 per child.
"It's a much better product," McCarthy told Bloomberg, comparing it to the $916 billion proposal currently being drafted in the Senate that does not include another round of stimulus checks. Democrats and some Republicans are stepping up their calls for direct payments in the next aid package.
Earlier in the day, The Washington Post reported that the White House was pushing Senate Republicans to include $600 stimulus checks. "While the amount is yet to be determined, direct payments to American workers continue to be a high priority of the President's," Ben Williamson, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement.
The new stimulus offer from the Trump administration capped a frenzied Tuesday on Capitol Hill as lawmakers scrambled to settle major differences in another federal rescue package. They appeared no closer to resolving disputes around state aid and a liability shield for firms against coronavirus-related lawsuits, two of the most contentious issues.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell offered to set them both aside so they can be addressed early next year in another assistance package. The Kentucky Republican previously referred to a liability shield as a "red line" that must be addressed in any legislation.
But Democrats rejected it, warning that not aiding state and local governments could accelerate layoffs among firefighters, cops, and other public workers. Providing assistance to them has long been a top Democratic priority.
"State and local funding is bipartisan unlike the extreme corporate liability proposal Leader McConnell made which has no Democratic support," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said at a press conference on Tuesday. He accused McConnell of attempting to "sabotage" the talks.
The window is closing for Congress to step in and prevent the expiration of numerous federal aid programs. About 12 million people could lose all their jobless aid the day after Christmas if lawmakers fail to pass a package renewing federal unemployment programs.
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