(CNN) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that she still wants a broad stimulus deal this week, but made it clear that she is unwilling to negotiate the price presented by House Democrats, reflecting how separate the two sides are there despite the days of talks.
When asked if she had an idea about the price she is willing to settle for, Pelosi bluntly told CNN, “Yes, $ 3.4 billion.”
That price has been rejected by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who last week introduced the Senate Republican Party plan that would cost approximately $ 1 trillion and attacked the over $ 3 trillion bill. of House Democrats who passed their house more than two months ago. And even some centrist Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate are apprehensive about endorsing such a dazzling price proposed by the speaker.
LOOK: Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on new economic stimulus
Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Secretary General Mark Meadows have already met six times behind closed doors, and are not close to a deal on a variety of issues, including unemployment benefits and the expiration of the federal government’s eviction moratorium, according to both sides. At Tuesday’s seventh meeting, which lasted about an hour and a half, the two sides agreed to see if they can reach an agreement by the end of the week, as the administration Trump He proposed extending the eviction moratorium until the end of this year.
Schumer and Pelosi said Democrats made “concessions” at the meeting, as did the administration. TrumpBut Meadows later said that the Democratic concessions were “minor” and both sides acknowledged that there was still much work to be done.
And there is strong disagreement about the extent of any stimulus, as the administration strongly rejected Pelosi’s price.
“We are not going to come close to $ 3.4 trillion,” Mnuchin said after informing McConnell after his meeting with Democratic leaders. “That is just ridiculous.”
But Pelosi, when asked if a deal is really feasible this week given the distance between the two sides, said Tuesday: “At some point, you just have to freeze the design.”
Pelosi’s comments come as anxiety grows at the Republican Senate conference that the administration could sign a deal that lacks the support of many Senate Republicans. While McConnell receives regular information on the talks, he has chosen not to join the discussions behind closed doors, saying that President Donald Trump is the only person who can enact laws, so the White House should take the initiative.
“I always want to be able to have a senator in the room and negotiations,” said Senator James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, when asked about McConnell not participating in the closed-door talks.
“I always think of it that way,” Lankford said when asked if he believed it would be better if McConnell sat down with the Democrats. «We have a Chamber, a Senate and a White House; we have three institutions. If we only have a White House and a Chamber negotiating, we are leaving the Senate aside … and I think we have something to say ».
And Republican senators, particularly those facing reelection, are uneasy about going home to voters and starting next week’s August recess if no deal is reached by then.
“Yes,” said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who is facing reelection in South Carolina, when asked if the August recess should be canceled if an agreement is not reached. “I agree with that”.
Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine facing a difficult reelection in the fall, said: “If we can’t do this in the midst of a persistent pandemic, then we have failed the American people. And I am optimistic that we will be able to do it ».
However, it is still very uncertain whether an agreement can be reached.
Pelosi said he hopes they can have a bipartisan agreement this week for votes in the House next week, given that they will vote to hold a meeting of the Rules Commission to consider the parameters for the House debate and it will take time. to develop the legislative language and obtain cost estimates.
Pelosi said both sides are currently still talking to each other about how much money is needed for various programs each side has proposed, a sign that there is much more to be done before the two sides come to an agreement.
“Right now we are identifying the justification for what we say costs: how the money would be spent,” Pelosi said. “And we are asking the same for some of the things that they are talking about, so that we have a clear understanding. So it’s productive in that regard. And now we just have to negotiate what comes next.
Pelosi added: “You must show how you would spend it, in addition to establishing the need, making it work and why so much money, and once we reach an amount, I think we will reach an agreement.”
However, the price Pelosi is pushing for has even pushed back some Democrats.
“That’s healthy enough,” said Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia, when asked about Pelosi’s request for a $ 3.4 billion package. “I want to be fiscally responsible … That could be a little more than we want.”
CNN’s Ian Sloan and Dominic Torres contributed to this report.
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