President Donald Trump has been very vocal about coming up with a stimulus package before the election. Now, even Trump has admitted that the coronavirus stimulus package and checks would not materialize before the election. However, he now expects the deal to happen after the election.
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On Tuesday, speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he would be willing to negotiate with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi after the election on Nov. 3. Trump said they will come up with the “best stimulus package” ever after the election.
Trump, at the same time, also slammed Pelosi for blocking the stimulus package by asking for “bailout” for the badly run states and cities run by Democrats. He also predicted that the failed negotiations would cost Democrats the House majority.
“I think we are going to take back the House because of her,” Trump said.
For now, it looks highly unlikely that Republicans would get control of the House. As per the Cook Political Report, the Democrats could increase their majority in 2020. When Trump made a similar prediction last week during the final presidential debate, Pelosi dismissed it by calling Trump “delusional.”
White House communications director Alyssa Farah made similar claims as Trump. Speaking to Fox News earlier Tuesday, Farah said the White House expects to reach a deal with Democrats on the relief package that could be voted on “within weeks.”
“We are confident that we can get something in the coming weeks,” Farah said.
Though it is almost confirmed that there won’t be any stimulus package before the election, it is possible that negotiations may continue behind the scenes. "This week, we continue to put pen to paper," Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday.
Will there be a deal in the lame-duck session?
It is now largely believed that the next stimulus package could be approved in the lame-duck session. Such a session, the period between the general election and the inauguration of the next presidential term, is generally a dead session in terms of passing new legislation, except for emergency measures, such as legislation to avoid the government shutdown.
So, the lame-duck session is seen as a suitable period to pass the next stimulus package. However, it is uncertain what might happen after the election. It is possible that priorities of the Republicans, Democrats and White House might change after the election.
“We'll come back in November. The question might be, will there be something then?" Richard Shelby, Senate Appropriations Chairman, said on Monday, according to Bloomberg.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo) is also not very optimistic on the lame duck session. “You don’t get near as much done as you think you’re going to get done,” Blunt said, according to The Hill.
A similar comment was made by Sen. Ron Wyden, who is on the Senate Finance Committee. “The lame-duck agenda depends largely on the outcome of the election,” Wyden told Bloomberg Tax.
