House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday said she is “optimistic” about reaching a deal for a new coronavirus relief package with the White House by the weekend.
Pelosi, who had previously set a Tuesday deadline for a deal, told her fellow House Democrats in a letter that she and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had found “common ground” during a phone call earlier that day, Business Insider reported.
“I’m optimistic because I do think we have a shared value … we want to crush the virus,” Pelosi told Bloomberg after the phone call with Mnuchin.
The two sides are still far apart on a price tag for the deal, with Pelosi pushing a $2.2 trillion package while the White House has proposed $1.88 trillion.
Meanwhile, GOP members of the Senate have said they would oppose going over $1.8 trillion, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly warned the White House against cutting a deal with Democrats before the Nov. 3 election.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told CNBC he hopes for “some kind of agreement before the weekend.”
