WASHINGTON — Top-level negotiations between Congress and White House teetered Sunday over a nearly $1.4 trillion economic rescue package, as thePresident Donald Trump
With a population on edge and shell-shocked financial markets poised for the new work week, all sides were hoping for an agreement that would provide some relief against health and economic crises that are likely to stretch for several months. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., invoked Pope Francis in urging colleagues to “take responsibility” as Democrats prepared their own draft.
But even as Trump stressed federal-local partnerships, some governors, including Republican Greg Abbott of Texas, expressed unhappiness with Washington’s response. The president himself took a swipe hours earlier at Gov. J. B. Pritzker, D-Ill., saying that he and “a very small group of certain other Governors, together with Fake News” should not be “blaming the Federal Government for their own shortcomings.”for the coronavirus.
Two days after he lashed out at a reporter who asked about his message to frightened Americans, Trump said, ``For those worried and afraid, please know as long as I am your president, you can feel confident that you have a leader who will always fight for you.” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who was leading a third day of nonstop talks on Capitol Hill, said the plan was meant to prop up the nation’s weakened economy for the next 10 to 12 weeks.
We have to get this money to people and small businesses who don’t have the cash to bridge the next few months.