Dem Leaders and White House Officials Work on Expired Economic Reliefs
Dem leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer along with WH officials Steven Mnuchin and Mark Meadows, continue negotiations on expired economic reliefs. While the start of August sessions at Congress has been delayed for next week, the four negotiators have agreed to come up with a deal by Friday this week.
What Has so Far Been Put on the Negotiation Table
According to Politico’s Playbook, Treasury Dept. Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows agreed to the extension of the expired economic relief paycheck but are negotiating to bring down the amount to $400 per month (flat $100 per week) from the previous $600 per month financial assistance. Actually, the WH officials’ original proposal was to cut the amount down to $200.
However, despite the increase, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has made it clear before in her PBS Newshour appearance that there is no-in between amounts. The Democratic position remains firm with the original $600.
On the expired eviction moratorium, the proposal laid out by the 2 WH officials was for the extension of the eviction moratorium up to mid-December on a federal level. Much to their frustration, the Democrats are gunning for more as their extension proposal includes the granting of financial aid to help out the more than 12 million renters througout the country.
Since the moratorium expired last July 25, immediate extension of the eviction moratorium is quite critical, as landlords could proceed with the initiation of eviction actions 30 days after the moratorium expired; technically by August 24, 2020. Yet the financial aid for renters put forward by the Democrats is likely to result in tense negotiations at the Congressional floors.