Even though the negotiations over the next coronavirus package have failed, all hopes are still not lost. It is possible that a deal on the coronavirus relief package will be reached this month, especially after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s comments yesterday to call the House to return to session.
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Pelosi re-calling House to vote on legislation
On Sunday, Pelosi said she would call the House of Representatives to return to session to vote on legislation in an attempt to protect the US Postal Service. Though Pelosi is calling the House back for another reason, it is possible there might be some closed-door consensus building on the coronavirus relief package.
Both the House and Senate are not in office currently. The Senate went for a recess last week after it was almost certain that there wouldn’t be any more negotiations on the stimulus package. The House went for a break a week earlier.
Pelosi yesterday said that she would call the House back from its annual summer recess to vote this week. The vote will be on legislation that will prohibit the USPS from making any changes to their operations. The USPS earlier warned that millions of mail-in ballots may fail to come in time to be counted in the election.
Pelosi also wants Louis DeJoy, USPS head and a loyal supporter of the president and Robert Duncan, chairman of the USPS board of governors, to testify at an “urgent” hearing on August 24.
Though Pelosi is re-calling the House for a different reason, it may still work in favor of a coronavirus stimulus package. This is because Pelosi’s announcement came after the White House chief of staff Mark Meadows suggested that the President could compromise on the funding for the post office.
"Let's go ahead and get a stimulus check out to Americans. Let's make sure that small businesses are protected with an extended [Payroll Protection] Program and put the postal funding in there. We'll pass it tomorrow. The president will sign it.” Meadows told CNN.
Meadows’ comment seems in stark contrast to what Trump said last week. President Donald Trump attracted controversy last week after he suggested that he is holding up the stimulus package to block funding for mail-in voting.
“Now, if we don't make a deal, that means they don't get the money. That means they can't have universal mail-in voting, they just can't have it,” Trump told Fox Business on Thursday.
Trump’s comment suggested that the funding for the mail-in voting is the single thing holding up the stimulus deal. But with Meadows saying that the President could be willing to sign a stimulus deal that includes funding for the post office, we could see some new developments on the coronavirus stimulus package later this week.
