Nancy Pelosi on Saturday dismissed the latest White House offer in COVID-19 aid talks as "one step forward, two steps back," but said she is still hopeful that progress can be made toward a deal, the AP reports. The White House had boosted its offer before Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Pelosi spoke on Friday afternoon. President Donald Trump is eager for an agreement before Election Day, even as his most powerful GOP ally in the Senate said Congress is unlikely to deliver relief by then. "Covid Relief Negotiations are moving along. Go Big!" Trump tweeted Friday. A GOP aide familiar with the new offer said it was about $1.8 trillion, with a key state and local fiscal relief component moving from $250 billion to at least $300 billion.
The White House says its most recent offer before that was about $1.6 trillion. Pelosi's most recent public offer was about $2.2 trillion, though that included a business tax increase that Republicans won't go for. "I would like to see a bigger stimulus package than either the Democrats or Republicans are offering," Trump said on Rush Limbaugh's radio show Friday. Earlier in the week, Trump lambasted Democrats for their demands on an aid bill. In a letter Saturday to colleagues, Pelosi said, "This proposal amounted to one step forward, two steps back. When the president talks about wanting a bigger relief package, his proposal appears to mean that he wants more money at his discretion to grant or withhold."
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