President Trump Ends Negotiations on Coronavirus Relief

October 6, 2020
Biden for President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2020

Statement by Vice President Joe Biden on President Trump Canceling Negotiations for COVID-19 Relief

Donald Trump ended the efforts to pass bipartisan relief that our nation desperately needs. He ended talks that would get help for our businesses and schools, for families struggling and for those unemployed — that would have preserved hundreds of thousands of jobs. Make no mistake: if you are out of work, if your business is closed, if your child’s school is shut down, if you are seeing layoffs in your community, Donald Trump decided today that none of that — none of it — matters to him. There will be no help from Washington for the foreseeable future. Instead, he wants the Senate to use it’s time to confirm his Supreme Court Justice nominee before the election, in a mad dash to make sure that the Court takes away your health care coverage as quickly as possible.

He turned his back on the small businesses that are struggling to keep their doors open. He turned his back on the firefighters and police officers and other first responders who depend on state and local government budgets that are strained to the breaking point. He turned his back on teachers and school children — standing in the way of support to get the PPE and cleaning supplies and ventilation needed to safely reopen schools. He turned his back on every single worker whose job hasn’t come back yet--and who are left to wonder when they’ll get the break they deserve. He turned his back on families struggling to pay rent, put food on their table, and take care of their kids.  

Worse yet, he never even really tried to get a deal for these Americans. Not once did he bring Republicans and Democrats together in the Oval Office, on the phone, or by Zoom, to get a relief package that would help working people and small businesses in this country. Not once in the months since the House passed a relief package in May has he stepped up to lead.

Today, I spoke to the country about the need to pull people together, regardless of their political background, to unite our country and to get things done for the American people.

That’s the job. To deliver for the people of this country. That’s what I did when I went to Congress and got the votes for the Recovery Act and led its implementation to pull our nation back from the brink in 2009 and kick off the longest uninterrupted streak of job growth in our history. That’s what I will do as president. And it’s what Donald Trump has again made clear he has no intention of doing ever. 

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Democratic National Committee
October 6, 2020

DNC on Trump Pulling Out of COVID-19 Relief Package Talks

DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement after Donald Trump tweeted his reckless decision to pull out of negotiations over a COVID-19 relief package:

“Donald Trump has abandoned the American people yet again. First, he cut unemployment benefits. Now he’s playing politics with lifesaving COVID relief. This pandemic is not over -- average Americans are still facing overwhelmed hospitals, mass layoffs, and an uncertain future. Over 210,000 Americans have died from this virus and counting, millions are still out of work, and Donald Trump thinks we’re out of the woods? Americans need relief. They need a president who understands their suffering and will act to end this pandemic, not someone who only cares about his election prospects. Donald Trump refuses to put the American people first. That’s why we need Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the White House. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are committed to ending this pandemic, providing the American people with the relief they need and deserve, and helping our nation build back better.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
October 6, 2020

Dear Colleague on Trump Walking Away from Coronavirus Relief

Dear Democratic Colleague,

Today, in an act of desperation, the President has told the GOP Senate to “focus full time” on confirming his nominee to the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act instead of crushing the virus and meeting the needs of the American people.

His irresponsible statement and policies have damaged lives, livelihoods and the life of our democracy, instead of crushing the virus, honoring our heroes — in health care, first responders, sanitation, transportation, food workers, teachers, teachers, teachers and others — and putting money in workers’ pockets.

He has prioritized protecting the tax cut for the wealthiest from the CARES Act instead of meeting the needs of the poorest children in America — rejecting the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, and the needs of school children learning safely in-person, hybrid, or virtual.

To make matters worse, the White House has said no to our request for funding for child care for families to go to work, no to strong OSHA protections for workplace safety, no to our strategic plan to crush the virus, no to our Census and election requests, and even reneged on their commitment to the Post Office.

Sadly, they are rejecting the urgent warnings of Fed Chairman Powell today, that, “Too little support would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses.  Over time, household insolvencies and business bankruptcies would rise, harming the productive capacity of the economy and holding back wage growth.  By contrast, the risks of overdoing it seem, for now, to be smaller.  Even if policy actions ultimately prove to be greater than needed, they will not go to waste.”

Today, once again, President Trump showed his true colors: putting himself first at the expense of the country, with the full complicity of the GOP Members of Congress.

Thank you for your leadership.

Stay well,

NANCY

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
October 16, 2020

Speaker Pelosi Decides Nothing Is Better Than Anything

Republicans Have Tried For Months To Compromise With Democrats, But Speaker Pelosi Has Refused To Budge From Her All-Or-Nothing Demands On Coronavirus Relief

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “If Senate Democrats were half as concerned as they say about American families’ healthcare, they would not have filibustered a multi-hundred-billion-dollar proposal for more coronavirus relief just a few weeks ago…. Three weeks ago, every single Senator cast a vote on pre-existing conditions, money for testing, money for vaccines, money for safe schools, money for small businesses, and money for unemployed workers. Fifty-two Republicans voted to pass all these policies. And every single Democrat who showed up voted to filibuster it dead.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 10/06/2020)

  • SEN. McCONNELL: “House Democrats [tried] to save face by introducing yet another multi-trillion-dollar far-left wish list with virtually all the same non-COVID-related poison-pills as their last unserious bill. Speaker Pelosi’s latest offering still does not include a single cent of new money for the Paycheck Protection Program, to help small businesses that are going under. It does nothing to help schools, universities, doctors, nurses, or employers avoid frivolous lawsuits…. They still want to send taxpayer-funded stimulus checks to people in our country illegally. They still want to hand a massively-expensive tax cut to millionaires and billionaires in places like New York City and San Francisco. A pet priority of the Speaker and the Democratic Leader that would do nothing to help working families through this pandemic. All of these far-left poison pills are still in their recycled bill. They have no intention of making bipartisan law for American families.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 10/06/2020)

Speaker Pelosi Has Repeatedly Emphasized Her All-Or-Nothing Policy: ‘Don’t Be Misled By Thinking, Oh, Well, A Little Bit Is Better Than Nothing. No, It Isn’t’

SEPTEMBER 9th: MSNBC’s ANDREA MITCHELL: “Well, is it better to go forward with some...”
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): “No, it isn’t. Now, let me -- thank you so much for that question, because I hear it a lot. And, clearly, it springs from all the good intentions we all have to help people as soon as we can. … So, don’t be misled by thinking, oh, well, a little bit is better than nothing. No, it isn’t.” (MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” 9/09/2020)

SEPTEMBER 14th: SPEAKER PELOSI: “Don’t be a cheap date.” (“Democrats, Republicans Point Fingers Over Lack of Coronavirus Aid Bill,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/14/2020)

SEPTEMBER 18th: BLOOMBERG’s DAVID WESTIN: “You mentioned negotiating with the Administration.  The Administration has sent signals, they weren’t very subtle, saying they’re interested in something like $1.5 trillion compromise, which would have, as I understand it, $450 a week – not $600, but $450 a week for people for at least eight weeks, and would have $500 billion for the states.  Not the $900 [billion] you asked for, but not the $100 [billion] the Republicans have said.  Isn’t something better than nothing?”
SPEAKER PELOSI: “No.” (Bloomberg, 9/18/2020)

OCTOBER 1st: SPEAKER PELOSI: “And so, when people say, as some of you do, ‘Isn’t something better than nothing?’ No.” (Bloomberg, 10/01/2020)

OCTOBER 1st: SPEAKER PELOSI: “And some of you have asked, isn’t something better than nothing? No. There can be an opportunity cost that says we’re rewarding the wealthy because they’re wealthy, they’re successful, at the expense of the poor.” (Speaker Pelosi, Press Conference, 10/01/2020)

OCTOBER 2nd: SPEAKER PELOSI: “But again, we’re not just taking the path of least resistance because everybody says, ‘Just take something, something is better than nothing.’ No…” (MSNBC, 10/02/2020)

Speaker Pelosi Also Reiterated That Democrat Leaders Wouldn’t Offer Policy Compromises To Get Relief To Americans: ‘We Didn’t Cut Things Out We Just Brought It Down’

 SPEAKER PELOSI: “[W]here we could perhaps change the timing so it’s less money now. That’s how we were able to come down. We didn’t cut things out we just brought it down. … And we came down $1.2 trillion, and we think we can negotiate within that …” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 9/16/2020)
 

FLASHBACK: A Month Ago, Every Present Senate Democrat Voted To Block Moving Forward On A Targeted COVID Relief Bill

46 Democrats voted to block Senate action on the relief bill. (S.178, Roll Call Vote #168: Motion Rejected: R: 52-1; D: 0-44; I: 0-2, 9/10/2020)
The Hill: “Senate Democrats block GOP relief bill” (“Senate Democrats Block GOP Relief Bill,” The Hill, 9/10/2020)
 
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