Trump urges Republicans to back Pelosi and Mnuchin’s coronavirus response deal

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/13/coronavirus-outbreak-pelosi-and-trump-administration-reach-deal.html

Jacob Pramuk
Published Fri, Mar 13 20206:08 PM EDT

President Donald Trump supported a House coronavirus relief plan Friday night after hours of talks between Democrats and his administration on how to blunt the economic damage of the global pandemic.

In a series of tweets, the president said “I fully support” the legislation negotiated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. He urged Republicans and Democrats in the House to support the bill and said he looks forward to signing it “ASAP!”

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But after 7:30 p.m. ET, the second-ranking Democrat in the House said his party had not actually reached a deal with the White House.

“She thought there was” a deal, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told NBC News when asked why Pelosi announced an agreement.

Around that time, a senior administration official told CNBC that the “text doesn’t yet reflect the deal that [Mnuchin] believed he had.”

When Pelosi announced the agreement, she said the legislation includes:

Free coronavirus testing for all who need it, including those without insurance
Up to two weeks of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid family and medical leave
Stronger unemployment insurance for furloughed workers
Buttressing SNAP and other food programs for school children and seniors
More money for Medicaid, the joint federal and state insurance program for low-income Americans

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