McConnell Downplays Reported Progress in COVID-19 Relief Negotiations

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are expressing optimism about a renewed round of negotiations on a COVID-19 relief.

But, speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said both sides have a ways to go before they reach an agreement, “I think it’s safe to say we’re far apart.”

He added, “We are very, very far apart.”

However, after a 90-minute meeting with Pelosi on Wednesday, Mnuchin said, “We made a lot of progress over the last few days. We still don’t have an agreement, but we have more work to do. And we’re going to see where we end up.”

“We’ve made a lot of progress in a lot of areas,” he added.

But Pelosi simply said she had “an extensive conversation.”

On Tuesday, the top House Democrat said, “Our conversation was a positive one. We’ll get back together tomorrow to see how we can find common ground.”

She noted that Congressional Democrats had lowered the total cost of their proposed relief bill from $3.4 trillion to $2.2 trillion. However, she stressed that the lower number does not mean certain measures were taken out of the bill.

“When we reduced it, we didn’t take out priorities. We just reduced the timeline as to how long those benefits would last,” she said.

She added that she hopes both sides can strike a deal on a relief package that would be signed by the president, “That’s my goal, that we come to an agreement so that we can put money in the pockets of the American people.”

Negotiations over another round of COVID-19 relief broke down in early August, and since then, there has been virtually no movement on another relief bill.

The new negotiations come just five weeks before the Nov. 3 general election.