By Kristina Peterson and Alison Sider
WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) signaled
Thursday she wouldn't support a stand-alone airline relief bill
without a broader coronavirus aid package, the latest twist in late
efforts to pass more economic relief before the election.
Mrs. Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were expected
to talk Thursday about potential aid for airlines, which have been
pummeled by the coronavirus pandemic.
"There is not going to be any stand-alone bill unless there is a
bigger bill and it can be part of that, or it could be in addition
to it," Mrs. Pelosi said of the airline aid, in remarks to
reporters.
Earlier this week, President Trump ended broader negotiations
between Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Mnuchin over a multitrillion-dollar
relief package and began a push to instead pass individual relief
bills, including aid for airlines and another round of direct
checks to many U.S. households.
"I shut down talks two days ago because they weren't working
out. Now they're starting to work out," Mr. Trump said Thursday on
Fox Business Network. "We're talking about airlines, and we're
talking about a bigger deal than airlines," he said, mentioning the
$1,200 stimulus checks that both parties have said they
support.
Airlines are now at the center of stimulus negotiations after
months of intense lobbying for a second round of government funds
to continue paying workers. Despite bipartisan support, their
efforts so far haven't been enough to break an impasse over
elements of a broader pandemic relief package.
Carriers began cutting tens of thousands of workers last week as
a deadline passed without any firm commitment for more government
funds, but they said they would bring workers back if Congress is
able to reach a deal. More broadly, data out Thursday show U.S.
unemployment claims remained elevated at 840,000 last week as the
labor market flashes signs of a slowdown and more layoffs become
permanent.
Democrats have generally opposed passing stand-alone bills,
saying that approach would leave out some of their priorities,
including funding for state and local governments, food-stamp
assistance and child care.
"All he has ever wanted in the negotiation was to send out a
check with his name printed on it," Mrs. Pelosi said on ABC's "The
View" Wednesday, referring to Mr. Trump. "Forget about the
virus."
Democrats, however, have been willing to consider a stand-alone
airline relief bill. Last week, House Democrats attempted to pass
separate legislation to prevent tens of thousands of layoffs in the
struggling industry, but it was blocked by Republicans, who said
they hadn't had a chance to vet it. GOP lawmakers argued that the
House should have advanced a separate airlines bill with bipartisan
support.
On Wednesday evening, Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Mnuchin spoke about
airlines aid for about 20 minutes and agreed to talk again
Thursday, according to Mrs. Pelosi's spokesman.
Last week, American Airlines Group Inc. and United Airlines
Holdings Inc. said they would go forward with a total of more than
32,000 job cuts after lawmakers were unable to agree on a broad
coronavirus-relief package.
Airlines received $25 billion in aid under the Cares Act passed
in March. A stipulation of that aid was that the carriers couldn't
lay off or furlough any workers before Oct. 1.
Airlines had hoped they would be on firmer footing by the time
that assistance ran out, but travel demand hasn't bounced back. The
companies have warned for months that they would need to cut staff
when that date arrived unless they received another $25 billion to
cover salaries and benefits through the end of March.
Two bills introduced last month but not yet voted on in the
Senate or House would extend about $25 billion to airlines,
specifying that most of the money come from unused allocations
previously approved by Congress. The legislation Democrats put
forward last week didn't include measures to repurpose existing
funds.
Before Mr. Trump's intervention Tuesday, the two sides had been
edging closer after the House passed a $2.2 trillion aid bill last
week, down from its earlier $3.5 trillion package. The Democratic
bill would provide assistance to airlines, give money to state and
local governments, send another round of stimulus checks, and
reinstate $600 weekly unemployment benefits, among other
measures.
Mr. Mnuchin had proposed a $1.6 trillion offer last week in
response. Deep disagreements remained, including how much state and
local aid to include, as well as issues including Covid-19 testing,
aides said.
Republicans were skeptical that Mrs. Pelosi would make major
concessions and worried that even if a deal were reached, the
Senate might not be able to juggle a sweeping relief bill and the
confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, aides
said.
--Gordon Lubold contributed to this article.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com and
Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 08, 2020 11:57 ET (15:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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