Sunday, 02 August 2020_Top Democrats in the US Congress and the White House are still in a deadlock over a new stimulus bill to help Americans deal with the economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic.
The highly-debated legislation is meant to pump more money into the US economy to ease the burden for struggling Americans and provide financial support for those who have lost their jobs during the health crisis.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows at the Capitol for three hours on Saturday but they failed to reach an agreement on bankrolling the US economy and cushioning the blow of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This was the longest meeting we had and it was more productive than the other meetings,” Schumer told reporters. “There are many issues that are still very much outstanding.”
Mnuchin said the talks were constructive but had reached an “impasse” over whether to come to a short-term agreement or a more comprehensive deal.
In a letter late on Saturday, Pelosi told House Democrats that “all parties must understand the gravity of the situation in order to reach an agreement that protects Americans’ lives, livelihoods and the life of our democracy.”
The officials are scheduled to meet again on Monday.
Over the past several months, Congress has been unable to reach a deal for a next round of economic relief from the respiratory disease, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 158,000 Americans and triggered the sharpest economic collapse since the Great Depression.
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