House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, on a private call with the House Democratic caucus on Wednesday, said the House would vote today on the $2.2 trillion stimulus proposal *if* no deal is reached between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin this morning, according to two people on the call.
Hoyer’s comments underscore just how crucial the discussion between Pelosi and Mnuchin will be this morning. Should Democrats move forward on a vote, it is all but certain to put an end to bipartisan negotiations until after the election.
What happens next: House Democratic leaders have teed up the bill in case talks fall apart, as has happened repeatedly over the course of the last few months, amid pressure from frontline Democrats who want to show they are taking action to address pandemic-driven economic shortfalls in the weeks before the election.
Pelosi, for her part, made clear on the call that this won’t be the last opportunity for Democrats to consider a broad stimulus deal and noted that the major outstanding issues are funds for state and local governments and liability protections.
Pelosi and Mnuchin are slated to talk before noon today, according to people familiar with their schedules. Mnuchin is planning to present a counter-offer somewhere around the $1.5 trillion range, one of the people said.
Mnuchin, on CNBC this morning, said he and Pelosi are “going to give it one more serious try to get this done. We’re hopeful.”
