周六，民主党和共和党的谈判代表都对在一个冠状病毒众议院议长南希·佩洛西提出了一揽子救助方案缓和的期望周日，她解释说她的政党和特朗普政府仍然不要看法一致关于抗击病毒和支撑苦苦挣扎的经济的“战略计划”。
“在我们的谈判中，我们在讨论如何应对这种流行病的一些后果，但事实是，我们必须——我们必须战胜这种病毒。这也是我们仍未达成任何协议的一点。”
作为证据，这位发言人指出了早些时候针对大流行的立法，强调了病毒测试，并抨击政府没有实施其扩大的协议。但在随后的“本周”采访中，财政部长史蒂夫·姆努钦对这一描述提出质疑，称根除COVID-19是一个团结的问题。
他告诉《本周》的联合主持人玛莎·拉德达兹:“我很惊讶听到演讲者说我们在消灭病毒的必要性上意见不一。”"我们完全同意消灭病毒的必要性。"
这两人正就新的救助法案进行谈判，双方在向失业的美国人提供多少联邦援助的问题上存在分歧，因此出现了各种各样的信号。在民主党将最近到期的每周600美元补助延长数月的努力与共和党将该补助削减至200美元的计划之间僵持不下——在延长一周600美元以适应谈判之后——议长将责任完全归咎于她的共和党国会议员和总统。
在民主党拒绝了短期延期的提议后，议长佩洛西说:“我们一直在争取600美元。”他们有一份200美元的提案，但这并不能满足工薪家庭的需求……他们提出提案的想法实际上并不符合事实。”https://t.co/HNQgCe39RNpic.twitter.com/tnlu1Bdx3g
—本周(@ThisWeekABC)2020年8月2日
佩洛西说:“(唐纳德·特朗普总统)是阻碍这一进程的人。”“我们一直在争取600美元，他们却有一个200美元的提案，这不能满足美国工薪家庭的需求。”
周六，在与姆努钦和白宫办公厅主任马克·梅多斯会谈后，佩洛西对记者说，谈判“在推动事态发展方面富有成效。”但当Raddatz周日问及美国人预计何时能达成协议时，他的语气明显不那么乐观，他说，“当我们达成协议时，我们就接近达成协议了。”
新闻发言人南希·佩洛西说:“事实是，当我们达成协议时，我们就接近达成协议了。”@ MarthaRaddatz但没有提供时间表。https://t.co/gUHbMnXgofpic.twitter.com/EB6DJdLF2m
—本周(@ThisWeekABC)2020年8月2日
亚利桑那州参议员玛莎·麦克萨利(Martha McSally)周五在最后一刻提出了一项计划，以600美元的利率再给美国人一周时间，但这一举措被民主党人视为一种政治噱头，他们的众议院法案已通过两个月，将延长至明年1月。姆努钦周日在《本周》上称，随着谈判的继续，这一举措本可以弥合援助方面的差距。
他说:“我们提出了一个建议。”“让我们延长一个星期，以同样的速度，我们白人谈判，这样我们就不会伤害美国公众。”
尽管佩洛西和参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)似乎不愿意改变他们的立场，即失业援助金额应该保持不变，但众议院多数党领袖、医学博士斯蒂尼·霍耶(Steny Hoyer)周二在接受CNN采访时采取了不同的立场，称“这不是600美元或破产。”
"所以，低于600美元的任何东西都不是交易破坏者?"拉德达茨在星期天催促演讲者。
佩洛西说:“增加失业保险的金额应该与失业率挂钩。”“因此，当价格下跌时，你可以考虑低于600美元的价格，但在这份协议中是600美元。”
“我们一致支持这600美元，”她补充道，同时指责参议院共和党人“一片混乱”，此前一些人公开表示，他们的总提案成本很高。
共和党人继续认为，这个数额会抑制工作积极性，因为考虑到联邦补贴，一些美国人在失业时挣的钱比他们在工作时挣的多。"
“毫无疑问，在某些情况下，我们支付给人们的工资更多是为了工作——呆在家里而不是工作——这给整个经济带来了问题，”姆努钦在本周晚些时候说
财政部长姆努钦告诉记者@ MarthaRaddatz“毫无疑问”在“某些情况下”600美元的失业保险是找工作的一个抑制因素
当被问及反驳他的论点的研究时，他补充道:“在某些情况下，人们得到的报酬过高。”https://t.co/HNQgCe39RNpic.twitter.com/1zceOdxULW
—本周(@ThisWeekABC)2020年8月2日
佩洛西将周日的立场描述为居高临下，并质疑共和党的优先事项。
她说:“不尊重他们的动机——(这)是如此惊人的坚持共和党人对一个工作的家庭和他们的600美元，以及他们对其他钱是如何的傲慢。”
在采访中，发言人还批评了白宫的主要声音之一冠状病毒特别工作组针对的是黛博拉·比克斯博士在特朗普关于大流行的持续不准确言论中扮演的角色。
Raddatz问及最近一份来自政客在与特朗普政府官员的一次会晤中，佩洛西称比克斯是“最糟糕的”，并指责她“散布虚假信息”。佩洛西没有否认这些言论，似乎在辩称，医生应该采取更多措施来控制总统的言论。
佩洛西说:“我认为总统是在散布关于病毒的假消息，而她是他任命的。”“所以我没有信心，没有。”
发言人佩洛西说:“我认为总统一直在散布关于病毒的假消息，而她是他的指定人选，所以我对她没有信心。”@ MarthaRaddatz当被问及她对黛博拉·比克斯博士有信心时。https://t.co/HNQgCe39RNpic.twitter.com/ZDZYAjr0cJ
—本周(@ThisWeekABC)2020年8月2日
Speaker Pelosi blames Trump, GOP for deadlock in coronavirus relief negotiations
After both Democratic and Republican negotiators expressed optimism Saturday about progress on acoronavirusrelief package compromise, House Speaker Nancy Pelositempered expectationsSunday, explaining that her party and the Trump administration stilldon't see eye-to-eyeon the "strategic plan" necessary to combat the virus and prop up the struggling economy.
"In our negotiations, we're talking about dealing with some of the consequences of this pandemic, but the fact is, we must -- we must defeat this virus. And that's one of the points that we still have not come to any agreement on," Pelsoi said in an exclusive interview on ABC's "This Week" Sunday.
As evidence, the speaker pointed to earlier pandemic-focused legislation that emphasized virus testing, and blasted the administration for not implementing its expanded protocols. But in a later "This Week" interview, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin contested the characterization, arguing that eradicating COVID-19 was a point of unity.
"I was surprised to hear the speaker say we don't agree on the need to kill the virus," he told "This Week" Co-anchor Martha Raddatz. "We absolutely agree on the need to kill the virus."
The mixed signals come as the pair are locked in negotiations on the new relief bill -- at the center of which lies a disagreement about the amount of federal aid to be offered to unemployed Americans. Amid a standoff over the Democratic effort to extend for months the recently expired $600 weekly benefit versus the GOP plan to reduce that supplemental assistance to $200 -- after a one-week $600 extension to accommodate negotiations -- the speaker placed the blame squarely on her Republican Capitol Hill counterparts and the president.
After Democrats turned down offer of short-term extension, Speaker Pelosi says, "We have been for the $600. They have a $200 proposal which does not meet the needs of working families … the idea that they made a proposal is really not actually factual."https://t.co/HNQgCe39RNpic.twitter.com/tnlu1Bdx3g
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)August 2, 2020
"(President Donald Trump is) the one who is standing in the way of that," Pelosi said. "We have been for the $600, they have a $200 proposal, which does not meet the needs of America's working families."
On Saturday, following a meeting with Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Pelosi told reporters that negotiations were "productive in terms of moving things forward." But when Raddatz asked on Sunday when Americans could expect to see a deal, the speaker's tone was markedly less optimistic, saying, "we will be close to an agreement when we have an agreement."
NEW: “The fact is we will be close to an agreement when we have an agreement,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells@MarthaRaddatzon COVID-19 relief negotiations, but does not provide a timeline.https://t.co/gUHbMnXgofpic.twitter.com/EB6DJdLF2m
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)August 2, 2020
Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., floated a last-minute plan on Friday to give Americans one more week at the $600 rate, but the move was dismissed by Democrats -- whose two-month-old House bill would extend it to January -- as a political stunt. Mnuchin argued Sunday on "This Week" that the move could've bridged the gap in assistance as negotiations continued.
"We put on a table a proposal," he said. "Let's extend it for one week, at the same rate, white we negotiate so we don't hurt the American public."
Though Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have appeared unwilling to budge from their position that the amount of jobless assistance should go unchanged, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., took a different stance in a CNN interview Tuesday, claiming, "it's not $600 or bust."
"So, anything less than $600 is not a deal-breaker?" Raddatz pressed the speaker Sunday.
"The amount of money that is given as an enhancement for unemployment insurance should relate to the rate of unemployment," Pelosi said. "So when that goes down, then you can consider something less than the $600, but in this agreement it's $600."
"We are unified in our support for the $600," she added, while accusing Senate Republicans of being "in disarray," after several spoke out about the high cost of their total proposal.
Republicans continue to argue that the amount provides a disincentive to work, as some Americans are earning more on unemployment, given the federal supplement, than they would be on-the-job."
"There's no question in certain cases where we're paying people more to work -- stay home than to work -- that's created issues in the entire economy," Mnuchin said later on "This Week."
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin tells@MarthaRaddatz“there’s no question” that $600 unemployment insurance is a disincentive to find a job in “some cases.”
“There are cases where people are overpaid,” he adds when pressed about study refuting his argument.https://t.co/HNQgCe39RNpic.twitter.com/1zceOdxULW
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)August 2, 2020
Pelosi characterized that position Sunday as condescending, and questioned the GOP's priorities.
"To disrespect their motivation -- (it's) so amazing how insistent the Republicans are about a working family and their $600, and how cavalier they are about other money that is going out," she said.
During the interview, the speaker also criticized one of the leading voices of the White HouseCoronavirusTask Force, taking aim at Dr. Deborah Birx's role in Trump's continued inaccurate statements about the pandemic.
Asked by Raddatz about a recent report fromPolitico, in which she called Birx "the worst" during a meeting with Trump administration officials, and accused her of "spreading disinformation," Pelosi did not deny the comments and appeared to argue that the doctor should be doing more to rein in the president's remarks.
"I think the president is spreading disinformation about the virus and she is his appointee," Pelosi said. "So I don't have confidence there, no."
JUST IN: "I think the president has been spreading disinformation about the virus and she is his appointee so, I don't have confidence there, no," Speaker Pelosi tells@MarthaRaddatzwhen asked is she has confidence in Dr. Deborah Birx.https://t.co/HNQgCe39RNpic.twitter.com/ZDZYAjr0cJ
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)August 2, 2020
