By Kristina Peterson and Andrew Restuccia
WASHINGTON -- Democratic negotiators dismissed the idea that
President Trump could unilaterally provide new jobless aid and cut
taxes in the absence of a deal in Congress, where fundamental
disagreements over the size of the next coronavirus-aid package
have brought talks to a stalemate.
Mr. Trump has said he is considering executive actions to
provide jobless aid, suspend the payroll tax, impose a partial
moratorium on evictions and assist with student loan repayments, in
an effort to pressure Democrats to give ground in negotiations. The
White House hasn't disclosed details of how such actions would be
put into place.
Lawmakers of both parties agree Mr. Trump can take executive
action to limit some evictions, but Democrats say the president
doesn't have the authority to act unilaterally on the other
matters.
"I don't think they know what they are talking about," House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) told reporters. "The one thing
the president can do is to extend the moratorium and that would be
a good thing, if there is money to go with it," she said, referring
to Democrats' calls to also provide assistance to landlords to
cover missed rent.
The relief bill passed in March banned landlords from evicting
people in rental properties that receive federal assistance or
federally-connected financing. That moratorium ended in late
July.
In March, the administration suspended foreclosures and
evictions of homeowners with mortgages insured by the Federal
Housing Administration, a move that applied to more than eight
million homes. The Federal Housing Finance Agency also directed
mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to stop foreclosures and
evictions of homeowners.
On jobless aid, which provided $600 a week until it expired last
week, the White House is considering using unspent money from the
earlier Cares Act legislation to help states restore benefits,
according to people familiar with the matter.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said a legislative solution was
the goal, but Mr. Trump was "fully prepared to use his executive
authority to help those who continue to be impacted."
The president told reporters on Thursday that he could sign
executive orders as soon as Friday or Saturday if the negotiations
don't show signs of progress.
The prospect of Mr. Trump taking action put new pressure
Thursday on Democratic leaders and White House officials trying to
hash out a deal. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.)
said he was delaying the start of the Senate's summer recess, set
to begin after close of business Thursday, but it was unclear when
lawmakers would actually be called back for votes.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R., Utah) said Senate Republicans were
dispersing, but would be updated in daily 5 p.m. conference calls
with GOP leaders and White House officials.
Mr. McConnell and Mr. Trump met Thursday to discuss the state of
the negotiations, a White House official said.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that if they don't reach a deal by
Friday with Mrs. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
(D., N.Y.), they saw little point in continuing the daily
negotiating sessions they have been conducting for nearly two
weeks.
The quartet was expected to meet again early Thursday
evening.
Democrats said Thursday that the slow pace of progress in the
talks stems from a central clash over how much assistance the
federal government should provide.
"We Democrats believe the patient needs a major operation, while
Republicans want to apply a Band-Aid and we won't let them just
pass the Band-Aid, go home and still leave America bleeding," Mr.
Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday.
Mr. McConnell said Democrats had been refusing to compromise in
the talks. He agreed with Mr. Schumer that the talks had stalled
because of an overarching disagreement over how much aid was
warranted.
"The argument is over how much is appropriate at this particular
juncture as we struggle to get the economy back on its feet and get
the country in a place where it can sustain itself until we get a
vaccine," Mr. McConnell said Thursday on CNBC.
The hardening stances prompted some pessimism on Capitol Hill
about negotiators' prospects of reaching a deal.
"We're at an impasse right now," Senate Appropriations Committee
Chairman Richard Shelby (R., Ala.) told reporters. "At the moment,
it doesn't look promising."
Some Republicans also expressed skepticism about Mr. Trump's
plans to employ executive orders as a fallback.
"Can you legally do it? I'm for a payroll-tax cut. I just am
very cautious about executive orders," said Sen. Lindsey Graham
(R., S.C.). "You know, I don't want to bless one I like because it
may open up the floodgates for things I don't like."
Congress has already authorized about $3 trillion in new
spending since March to help mitigate the impact of coronavirus
shutdowns, including stimulus checks and jobless payments to
American households and emergency loans and grants to struggling
businesses and state and local governments.
Republicans had entered negotiations with a $1 trillion plan,
though the proposal faces opposition within the Senate GOP, due to
growing concerns about heavy new deficit spending. Democrats say
Republicans are taking too narrow an approach, omitting such items
as additional funding for states and local governments.
The two sides have remained far apart on how much to spend in
federal jobless assistance, which provided $600 a week before it
expired in July. Republicans said that level has paid some people
more to stay at home than to work, providing a disincentive to
return to work. Democrats have pushed back against such
arguments.
In the talks, White House negotiators have offered to provide
weekly checks of $400 -- down from the recently expired level but
higher than Republicans's initial $200 proposal, according to a
person familiar with the negotiations. Democrats haven't budged
from their demand of $600.
Also looming is the application deadline Saturday for the
Paycheck Protection Program, designed to help small businesses keep
workers on payroll. In the Senate, lawmakers have been trying to
strike an agreement to extend the program, which still has more
than $100 billion remaining, and allow small businesses to have
more access to the program.
--Natalie Andrews and Kate Davidson contributed to this
article.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com and
Andrew Restuccia at Andrew.Restuccia@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 06, 2020 18:14 ET (22:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.