Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, will spend Tuesday on Capitol Hill, working to smooth over differences with Senate Republicans over an emerging, roughly $1 trillion coronavirus relief package. They will also begin outreach to Democrats ahead of an intense round of negotiations.
Republican senators and administration officials remain at odds over a number of key policy provisions on which Mr. Trump has insisted, including tying new education funding to in-person classes, providing a payroll tax cutting funds for nationwide testing and top health agencies as the pandemic continues to spread.
And time is of the essence for lawmakers, given that expanded jobless aid for the tens of millions of Americans laid off during the pandemic is set to expire at the end of the month. The legislation is widely seen as lawmakers’ last opportunity to address the pandemic with major legislation before the November election.
Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Meadows will also huddle on Tuesday morning with the top Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee to discuss funding for schools, testing and health agencies. The pair will then join Republicans’ weekly lunch, where Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said he planed to share more details about what he hoped to include in the party’s opening offer.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, along with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, will host Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Meadows in her office after the lunch. Democrats have repeatedly said they will not accept anything less than the $3 trillion stimulus the House approved in May.
FEATURED IMAGE: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, center, and Mark Meadows, right, in the Oval Office on Monday. Doug Mills/The New York Times
The New York Times
