If you were counting on that second round of stimulus checks to get you through the holiday season, you may have to wait longer than anticipated. It appears Donald Trump is holding those stimulus checks hostage until after the November presidential election.
Today, Trump ordered his negotiators to stop working on the new stimulus package, after the Democrats and Republicans have struggled for months to reach a deal.
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“I have instructed my representatives to stop negotiating until after the election when, immediately after I win, we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business,” Trump wrote in a series of tweets Tuesday afternoon.
Trump set off Twitter after a private conference call with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the administration’s top negotiator, who was scheduled to speak Tuesday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has been leading Democrats’ negotiations, CNN reports.
The decision to pull the plug on the negotiations affects the millions of Americans still struggling from the economic crisis brought about by the pandemic. It also delays economic recovery for businesses and industries who initially received a $2.2 trillion stimulus passed by Congress in the spring. With that money long gone, economists have warned more support is necessary in the months ahead.
While Mnuchin and Pelosi were nowhere near the end of negotiations, according to multiple people involved, they were still very much in negotiations — with the two scheduled to talk by phone Tuesday afternoon and having continued to trade paper and legislative text over the last several days.
We’ll keep you posted on any updates.
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