(JustPatriots.com)- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to play politics in regard to economic stimulus negotiations, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would have none of it.
On Thursday, Mnuchin said he learned about a letter that Pelosi sent him “in the press.”
Pelosi sent the treasury secretary a letter earlier Thursday that demanded a response to her latest offer on the coronavirus economic stimulus bill the two have been negotiating for weeks now. But, she sent the letter simultaneously to the press, who released it to the public before Mnuchin had a chance to read it.
Pelosi’s letter read:
“Your responses are critical for our negotiations to continue. The President’s words that ‘after the election, we will get the best stimulus package you have ever seen’ only have meaning if he can get [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell to take his hand off the pause button and get Senate Republican Chairmen moving toward agreement with their House counterparts.”
When Mnuchin found out about the letter that was published in the press, he accused Pelosi of initiating “a political stunt.” He said her letter was an inaccurate description of how negotiations have been going between him and her.
On Twitter, Mnuchin wrote:
“I woke up this morning and read @SpeakerPelosi’s letter to me in the press. Enclosed is my response. Her ALL OR NONE approach is hurting hard-working Americans who need help NOW!”
He then attached a copy of his response to Pelosi, which read:
“While you accuse the Administration of holding up negotiations, you refuse to bring to the floor of the House stand-alone legislation to support Airline workers, additional Paycheck Protection Program payments to small businesses, and additional Direct Payments that we can fund using already approved money that we have not spent.”
Mnuchin further said the White House had accepted the proposal Pelosi put forward on both the language and dollar amount for coronavirus testing. They also provided feedback on the contact tracing section.
The treasury secretary said he’s been working with other committee chairs and agencies on responses for several areas of the coronavirus relief package, which includes funding for the Postal Service and small businesses, as well as rental assistance.
While Mnuchin and Pelosi have been negotiating back and forth for more than a month now, there’s a lot of chatter going on that Pelosi is simply playing a delay game so that President Donald Trump can’t claim he passed another stimulus package before Election Day.
Pelosi’s hope, apparently, is that not passing any more relief bills will hurt the president at the polls on November 3.
At the last presidential debate, Trump even talked about this possibility, saying about a future economic stimulus package:
“Nancy Pelosi doesn’t want to approve it. I do. It’s near the election, because she thinks it helps her politically. I think it hurts her politically.”
While there may be debate on whether delaying stimulus funds would hurt or help someone’s political status, one thing is for certain: Continuing to delay economic relief is hurting the American public, and Nancy Pelosi shoulders a majority of that blame.
