House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced Friday evening that she had reached a deal with the Trump administration over a coronavirus bill that would provide federal relief measures to communities around the country.
According to CNN, Pelosi made the reveal to colleagues in a letter Friday evening, after spending the afternoon discussing potential options with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
“We are proud to have reached an agreement with the Administration to resolve outstanding challenges, and now will soon pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act,” announced Pelosi.
On Fox Business, Lou Dobbs signaled that Mnuchin was still meeting with the president to discuss the bill, and Mnuchin was not yet ready to announce that a deal had been reached. However, Mnuchin later appeared on the program to affirm that a deal had, in fact, been reached.
“We have an agreement that reflects what the president talked about in his speech the other night,” said Mnuchin. “He’s very focused on making sure that we can deal with the coronavirus, that people that have to be home quarantine, that hard-working Americans don’t lose their compensation because they have to be home.”
According to Fox News, the legislation includes paid sick leave, enhancements to existing unemployment insurance, an increase in funding for government food-initiatives, more federal funding to Medicaid, and undisclosed coronavirus testing measures.
“This legislation is about testing, testing, testing,” said Pelosi, reports the news agency. “To stop the spread of the virus, we have secured free coronavirus testing for everyone who needs a test, including the uninsured. We cannot fight coronavirus effectively unless everyone in our country who needs to be tested can get their test free of charge.”
A source within the Trump administration has reportedly acknowledged that the president will support the measure, reports the news agency. However, the president has not yet publicly acknowledged the deal.
According to Fox News, the bill had been held up after House Democrats tried to insert unrelated measures into the legislation. In an interview with National Review, Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) unloaded on Pelosi for allegedly trying to work around an abortion funding law.
“While schools are closing and hospitals are gearing up, Speaker Pelosi is waging unnecessary culture wars. Speaker Pelosi should be fighting the coronavirus pandemic, not politicizing emergency funding by fighting against the bipartisan Hyde Amendment,” Sasse told the news agency. “We need to be ramping up our diagnostic testing, not waging culture wars at the behest of Planned Parenthood. Good grief.”
In a press conference Friday afternoon, President Trump stated that House Democrats were not “giving enough” for a deal to be reached, reports CNN.
“Well, we just don’t think they’re giving enough. We don’t think the Democrats are giving enough,” announced Trump.
“We’re negotiating. We thought we had something, but all of a sudden they didn’t agree to certain things that they agreed to. We could have something, but we don’t think they’re giving enough. They’re not doing what’s right for the country,” said the president, reports the news agency.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, President Trump declared a national emergency Friday afternoon, releasing $50 billion in aid for states and municipalities affected by the coronavirus.
“To unleash the full power of the federal government under this effort, I’m officially declaring a national emergency,” said Trump. “The action I am taking will open up access to up to $50 billion of very important and a large amount of money for states and territories and localities in our shared fight against this disease.”
“In furtherance of the order, I’m urging every state to set up emergency operations centers effective immediately,” said Trump. “I’m also asking every hospital in this country to activate its emergency preparedness plan so they can meet the needs of Americans everywhere. The hospitals are very engaged.”