Senior adviser to the president Jared Kushner suggested Tuesday that Congress could continue blocking coronavirus stimulus packages until after the election over “politics” reasons.
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law said during an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box that the White House believes Americans need another “intervention” — like the CARES Act — to help ease the economic pain caused by coronavirus and that the administration is actively seeking to negotiate with Congressional leadership. (RELATED: How Do We Stop Political Elites From Selling Out Workers? Rep. Ro Khanna Explains | WALL STREET MEETS WASHINGTON EP. 23)
“We do think there’s a need for another intervention. We’ve reached out to Congress, we’ve been negotiating,” he stated. “As you know, in all negotiations everyone’s at ‘no’ before they get to ‘yes.'”
“There’s a lot of posturing, some differences of opinion,” Kushner added. “But the hope is that we’ll still get to a deal. It may have to happen after the election because there are politics involved. This is Washington.”
WATCH:
The Senate failed Friday to advance a stimulus package introduced by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul sided with Democrats to block the bill.
Meanwhile, a bi-partisan group of House lawmakers plans to introduce a stimulus bill of their own on Tuesday worth an estimated $1.5 trillion. The package would restart the Payment Protection Program, issue a second round of direct payments to taxpayers, and refill expanded unemployment insurance.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic caucus, are expected to vote against the legislation.