Pelosi Softens Stance On $600 A Week Unemployment Checks, Says Theres Room To Negotiate – Forbes

TOPLINE

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that theres room for compromise when it comes to the lapsed $600 weekly unemployment payment that Democrats have said they want to see reinstated in a new stimulus package, while calling a memorandum President Donald Trump signed Saturday authorizing $400 weekly payments unconstitutional slop.

U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) participates in a news conference August 7, 2020 ... [+] on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Pelosi indicated on CNNs State of the Union that coming down from the $600 number might be something Democrats are willing to negotiate.

When host Dana Bash asked, Are Republicans right when they say that you will not come off of your $600 number, you will not come off of other figures, Pelosi responded, No, thats why were in a stalemate.

Continued $600 weekly federal unemployment payments are something Democrats had consistently said must be included in the next stimulus package.

Republicans are proposing $200 a week payments through the end of the year, instead, arguing that the $600 payments are far too generous and disincentivize Americans from returning to work.

But last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he was prepared to support a coronavirus stimulus bill that continued the $600 weekly payments, with talks between Republicans and Democrats failing to show progress.

Trump threw a massive curveball in negotiations on Saturday when he bypassed Congress and signed an executive order and three memoranda to provide pandemic aid, including one that would provide payments of $400 a week to unemployed workers through the end of the year, a legally questionable move that is likely to be challenged by Democrats in court.

Of course theres room for compromise, but you have to see the entire package, Pelosi said.

The $600 weekly unemployment payments have been a major lifeline for millions of American workers since the U.S. economy was thrown into disarray by coronavirus. Those unemployment payments passed nearly unanimously through Congress as part of the CARES Act back in March, but the federal benefits, which came in addition to state unemployment payments, expired at the end of July. The $400 weekly payments Trump is attempting to institute would be only 75%-funded by the federal government, leaving the rest to the states, which have seen revenues crash during the pandemic.

Many questions remain unanswered about both whether Trump has the legal authority to enact the executive actions and where the money will come from to fund them. In addition to the $400 a week payments, Trump also extended forbearance on federal student loan repayments through the end of the year and ordered the Treasury to implement a controversial payroll tax freeze for most American workers, which members of Congress hadnt even been considering during negotiations. Pelosi on Fox News Sunday called the presidents actions unconstitutional slop, the same phrasing Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) used to describe the executive order.

Pelosi: 'Of course there's room for compromise' on $600-per-week unemployment benefit (The Hill)

Second Stimulus Check Passage Delayed Again By $600 Unemployment Extension Clash (Forbes)

GOP $200 Unemployment Plan Will Mean Massive Homelessness And A Deep Recession (Forbes)

McConnell: Im Prepared To Support A Coronavirus Stimulus Bill That Includes $600 Unemployment Checks (Forbes)

$600 Unemployment Check Cut To $300 Under Trump Executive OrdersStates Asked To Add $100 (Forbes)

Dems Slam Trumps Executive Actions, Biden Calls Payroll Tax Cut A Reckless War On Social Security' (Forbes)

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Pelosi Softens Stance On $600 A Week Unemployment Checks, Says Theres Room To Negotiate - Forbes