White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Tuesday said he is “optimistic” there will be another coronavirus stimulus package before the 2020 presidential election.
Meadows told Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” that after conversations with lawmakers, his optimism is higher now for additional relief than it has been “in a long time.”
“I think the Senate is not only going to hit the ground running but actually they’ve been working over the break,” Meadows outlined. “When they were back home in their districts working, I know as late as 9:oo last night I was on the phone with a couple of senators, as well as Senate leadership, to make sure that we put forth a bill coming out of the Senate that at least provides a foundation for getting an agreement. I can tell you that there’s more that we agree upon than what we disagree upon, and I think it’s time that we put politics aside, pass this stimulus, actually allow it to come to the President’s desk. He’s not only encouraged us, but he’s daily checking in to make sure that we’re staying engaged to hopefully get relief to the American people.”
He added, “I can tell you there is a groundswell of support among rank and file Democrats and Republicans to suggest that there’s some kind of compromise. Listen, when we look at enhanced unemployment, when we look at what we can do for schools when we look at what we could do for those small businesses and direct stimulus checks, I think there’s broad-scale agreement on that, and right now the thing that’s the stumbling block is, A, to state and local governments. The number that Speaker Pelosi puts forth is just not supported by the facts. So we’re going to continue to negotiate on that, but I’m optimistic in the next two weeks that the pressure and the voice of the American people will start to have an impact on members of Congress.”
Host Maria Bartiromo asked, “So, you do believe that we will see another stimulus package before the election then, Mark? Or you’re not sure?
“I do,” he replied. “I’m not sure, obviously, but I do believe that we’ll see that only because I’ve had a number of conversations, probably a dozen sometimes a day with different rank and file members, and when you listen to them, they’re listening to their constituents. If we would just listen to the American people and meet those needs, like the President of the United States is doing, I think we’d get there. And I’m more optimistic perhaps today than I’ve been in a long time.”
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