WASHINGTON — Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, and high Democrats negotiated on Friday to interrupt an deadlock over replenishing a stimulus
WASHINGTON — Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, and high Democrats negotiated on Friday to interrupt an deadlock over replenishing a stimulus program to assist small companies climate the coronavirus pandemic, at the same time as some Republicans privately apprehensive that Mr. Mnuchin would concede an excessive amount of in his zeal to unfreeze a important help initiative.
High Republicans had steadfastly refused to debate a cope with Democrats on their calls for to couple an infusion for the small-business program — the Paycheck Safety Program — with extra money for states, cities and hospitals to fight the virus. However after the funding lapsed on Thursday, they expressed the primary hints of openness to accepting further hospital or grant funding past the administration’s request for $250 billion to maintain the small-business program afloat.
“I’m open to that dialogue being very narrowly targeted on what we did in Section three that’s already confirmed to be not fairly hitting the mark we hope to hit,” mentioned Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri, referring to the $2.2 trillion stimulus bundle that was the third spending measure enacted to answer the coronavirus disaster.
Nonetheless, with Mr. Mnuchin pursuing talks primarily with Democrats, there’s lingering apprehension amongst some Republicans on Capitol Hill that in an effort to restrict the financial fallout from the unfold of the coronavirus and restart this system, Mr. Mnuchin will go too far in accommodating the Democrats and conform to insurance policies they can’t help.
In personal conversations, high Republican officers mentioned that Mr. Mnuchin’s concessions throughout earlier negotiations on coronavirus laws — specifically, an settlement he struck with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to considerably develop federal paid sick depart, and a subsequent cope with Senate Democrats to considerably enhance jobless help — had intensified skepticism about whether or not he might strike a deal that each one Republican senators might help.
A few of them mentioned they regarded Mr. Mnuchin as primarily a Democrat, and one senior Republican who, like others interviewed didn’t need to be named discussing variations between Senate Republicans, mentioned the Treasury secretary didn’t strategy the problems presently being debated from a Republican perspective.
A Treasury Division spokeswoman had no remark.
Republicans have complimented Mr. Mnuchin’s accessibility — he has repeatedly joined calls with each conferences over the previous two months to debate laws associated to the coronavirus outbreak — and up to now, they’ve particularly tapped him to signify them in important price range and spending negotiations with Ms. Pelosi, which produced offers that President Trump in the end signed into legislation.
However the Republican worries concerning the Treasury secretary, who has emerged as Mr. Trump’s point man on the economic response to the pandemic, reflects a steep challenge for the administration as it works to restart the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides loan guarantees to small businesses that keep employees on their payrolls, and looks toward future rounds of government coronavirus relief that will have to be negotiated with Democrats.
The concern has been heightened by the extraordinary logistical challenges caused by the pandemic: With lawmakers scheduled to remain out of Washington until May 4 at the earliest, any effort to approve an emergency funding infusion would require the support of all 100 senators, as opposed to the 60 votes typically needed to pass legislation.
With any single lawmaker capable of blocking legislation from moving forward, the continuing talks are a test of Mr. Mnuchin’s ability to help wrangle an agreement that is palatable not just to the administration and the Democratic majority in the House, but rank-and-file Republicans in both chambers.
“Every administration needs a senior official who can work with the other party, so it’s helpful to the president to have that,” David McIntosh, the president of the Club for Growth, an anti-spending conservative advocacy group, said in an interview. “But I think Mnuchin needs to be careful that he doesn’t make another mistake, and fully understands what the Democrats are trying to do.”
As Republicans have attacked them in recent days for standing in the way of quick approval of the $250 billion the Trump administration requested to replenish the small-business loan program, Democratic leaders have stood firm in insisting on the added funds they have proposed, noting that they were still talking with Mr. Mnuchin.
“We’re hopeful they will come back with something that strikes a balance in what we know we need to do,” Ms. Pelosi said of the administration during a weekly telephone news conference with reporters on Thursday, ahead of another round of talks between Mr. Mnuchin, his staff and aides to Ms. Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader.
Asked on Thursday about how a deal would be received, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, remained noncommittal, saying, “We’d take a look at it.”
It was Mr. McConnell who first announced last month that Mr. Mnuchin would lead talks for Republicans on the coronavirus relief package that preceded the stimulus, which included free testing, health care and food assistance, and the paid leave benefit that so rankled Republicans.
Mr. McConnell counseled his members to “gag and vote for it,” but then insisted on taking a far more active role in negotiating the stimulus package that followed, which ultimately topped $2 trillion. Such guidance would not be feasible now that the Senate is not set to formally return until May, and legislation can only be passed on a unanimous basis, allowing any single lawmaker to block it.
Speculation that Mr. Mnuchin is a Democrat has simmered over the years, in part because of his background as a Hollywood film financier who resides in Los Angeles. Mr. Mnuchin’s father has expressed displeasure that his son works for Mr. Trump. And Mr. Mnuchin’s wife, Louise Linton, broke with him this year when she used social media to defend Greta Thunberg, the climate activist, after the Treasury secretary criticized Ms. Thunberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
For his part, Mr. Mnuchin denies that he was ever a Democrat. Like many wealthy investors, he has donated to both Republicans and Democrats over the years.
“I have been absolutely a Republican,” Mr. Mnuchin said in 2018 at an event at the Economic Club of Washington D.C., noting that while he had written checks to Democrats over the years, “I’ve always been a Republican.”
People close to Mr. Mnuchin have described him as the consummate pragmatist in negotiations, putting political ideology aside and focusing on finding the common ground needed to strike a deal. One person familiar with his style suggested that Mr. Mnuchin would most likely try to offer Democrats just enough to be able to claim victory, while clinging as closely as possible to the framework that was agreed to last month in the stimulus measure.
But that compromise still leaves a bitter taste for some Republicans.
As talks on the package entered a critical phase, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, told Mr. Mnuchin and two top Republican senators that his party wanted assurances that the bill would include unemployment benefits equal to full wage replacement for average workers — a proposal that other administration officials and Republicans had rejected.
Mr. Mnuchin, without consulting his Republican partners — Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the committee chairman, and Senator Rob Portman of Ohio — quickly agreed to the demand, according to three officials with knowledge of the talks who would discuss them only on the condition of anonymity.
The result was an agreement in which the federal government provides an extra $600 per week in unemployment pay for 16 weeks for millions of jobless workers, an amount that when added to basic benefits would exceed regular pay in some cases. The issue became a final sticking point before passage of the measure, when a group of conservative Republican senators balked, saying there must have been a mistake. They eventually relented, but not before trying to strip the generous aid, allowing Republicans to register their opposition with a vote on the Senate floor.
Democrats, for their part, say the conversations with Mr. Mnuchin have yielded progress toward resolving the impasse. Ms. Pelosi has pressed ahead with them, warning that the administration’s request would not pass through the House without some changes.
“It’s just a matter of talking — if we talk, I think we can get an agreement done,” said Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland and one of the proponents of the new program. “I think we can resolve this.”
Carl Hulse and Jim Tankersley contributed reporting.