The new economic stimulus package proposed by the White House, which faces opposition from Republicans and Democrats, is not stillborn, President Donald Trump’s economic adviser said on Sunday.
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“Is the stimulus dead, dead?” Larry Kudlow asked on CNN.
“I don’t think that’s the case,” he replied. “I think if an agreement could be found [avec les démocrates], Republicans would make do with it, ”he added, stressing that the Trump administration would want targeted measures to help certain sectors of the economy most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, such as air transport and small and medium-sized companies (SMEs).
After a week of about-face and procrastination, the Trump administration finally increased to $ 1.8 trillion on Friday its support package for the US economy, hoping to tie up, within four weeks of the presidential election, a deal with the Democrats.
Deploring a “one step forward, two steps back”, Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, who is negotiating the stimulus plan with Steven Mnuchin, the secretary of the Treasury, considers that this proposal is ” not sufficient ”.
“We still have disagreements on many priorities,” she wrote to members of her parliamentary group on Saturday, nonetheless saying she was “optimistic”.
The Democrats, who have already unveiled their own plan to support the economy, want aid to households, businesses and local communities, among others, in the amount of $ 2.2 trillion.
In addition to the opposition, the White House proposal was rejected by several Republican senators who considered it too generous. They expressed their reluctance on Saturday during a conference call with Mr. Mnuchin and Mark Meadows, Donald Trump’s chief of staff.
This opposition from Republicans suggests that it will be difficult to find a compromise before the presidential election on November 3.
An agreement “is unlikely in the next three weeks” before the election, had also warned Friday their leader, Mitch McConnell.
The stimulus plan has become a major issue for the Republican camp, as the gap widens in the polls between Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate, and Donald Trump. The latter, who is seeking a second term, is given a clear loser by most opinion studies.