By Tauren Dyson
President Donald Trump is calling on Congress and members of his Cabinet to agree on a new coronavirus stimulus package as he receives treatment for coronavirus.
Trump tweeted from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Saturday:
“Out great USA wants & needs stimulus. Work together and get it done. Thank you!”
Trump’s diagnosis has renewed a push to pass a stimulus plan to aid the nation’s economy which was sent into an economic freefall after the coronavirus pandemic hit.
The president’s diagnosis has spurred urgency in congressional leadership to get another stimulus bill passed quickly.
“This kind of changes the dynamic because here they see the reality of what we have been saying all along: This is a vicious virus, and it spreads,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told MSNBC on Friday.
“I’m trying to figure out here whether I should predict another bill quickly or not. But the talks have speeded up in the last couple of days,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said during an event in Kentucky. “I think we’re closer to getting an outcome.”
House Democrats on Thursday passed a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill that was rejected by all Republicans and 18 moderate Democrats, who knew the bill would not be passed in the Republican-led Senate.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has proposed a $1.6 trillion bill, even though that number might still be too much for the Senate GOP.