Trump: ‘No rush’ for relief bill despite dire jobless numbers
by Michael Mathes
US President Donald Trump said Friday he was in “no rush” to strike a deal with Democrats over emergency relief for suffering Americans even as the raging coronavirus pandemic causes staggering job losses.
Democrats led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said they are crafting what could become another trillion-dollar-plus rescue package potentially including funding for state and local governments, paycheck protections and rent or mortgage assistance.
Pelosi signalled that her “bold CARES 2 package” could soon get a vote if the House of Representatives returns to regular session next week.
The president appeared to wave off the urgency.
“We’re in no rush,” Trump said at a roundtable with Republican lawmakers when asked about speeding up negotiations given the staggering 14.7 percent unemployment figure released Friday.
Trump said he wanted to see what Democrats were proposing in the draft bill, adding that the administration “got what we needed” in previous rescue packages.
Congress in March passed an unprecedented $2.2 trillion rescue, triggering the distribution of checks to millions of families.
The package pumped $349 billion into a loan program to salvage small businesses and directed $150 billion to state and local governments.
A subsequent $483 billion plan followed in late April.
Now, leading congressional Republicans and the White House are advocating for a pause in new relief to see how the latest package helps.
“We’re throwing money at it,” Trump said of the earlier efforts.
“We can sit back and we’re going to watch” the negotiations, Trump said. “We’ll do what’s right for the country.” (AFP)
