Recently, the House Democrats missed the deadline they had set up to pass stimulus check round 2. However, Speaker Pelosi told media sources that the second stimulus package will be passed before the November presidential elections.
Last week, Speaker Pelosi had issued a 48 hours deadline for the Trump administration to come to an agreement. Sticking to this deadline would have ensured enough time for the lawmakers to hold a voting session before the November presidential elections. Unfortunately, the White House could not come to an agreement on stimulus check round 2. On the bright side, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Speaker Pelosi have been negotiating throughout this week.
Stimulus Check Round 2 Before 3rd November?
While expressing optimism, Speaker Pelosi also mentioned that the White House is not sticking to a single goal.
The price tag of the second stimulus package has been the main issue of concern for GOP Republicans. However, reports suggest that the White House and the House Democrats have reached near consensus in the second stimulus bill price tag. The stimulus check round 2 proposed by the House Democrats, HEROES Act 2, has a price tag of $2.2 trillion. Meanwhile, the stimulus bill proposed by the White House has a price tag of $1.9 trillion.
Currently, the issue of disagreement is with regard to local and state funds. Another issue that has cropped up is whether the stimulus package should defend businesses against lawsuits related to the coronavirus.
While Speaker Pelosi is hopeful that stimulus check round 2 will be passed before the November presidential elections, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin did not seem so optimistic about it. Last week, he told media sources that there are major differences between the White House and the House Democrats.
On Monday, the uncertainty of a second stimulus package was reflected in the stock market. With the pandemic still continuing and no fiscal relief, the sticks went tumbling down.
Senators Will Leave For Home Soon
Currently, the GOP senators are busy with the Supreme Court nominee. They are trying to confirm Amy Coney Barrett unto the bench. Sources say that the senators will leave for their home states as soon as the Supreme Court decision is finalized.
Last week, the Senate Republicans introduced a second stimulus bill worth $500 billion. This bill did not include stimulus check round 2 and was voiced by the House Democrats.
Mitch McConnell and other GOP senators have consistently said that they would not go for a high-budget stimulus package. When asked about the trillion-dollar stimulus package proposed by the White House, McConnell said that he will consider it. However, private sources say that he told the Trump administration to deflect reaching a deal on stimulus check round 2 before 3rd November.
