The White House is open to increasing the money it first proposed for the U.S. Postal Service in stimulus talks with congressional Democrats for the fifth round of coronavirus relief.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said President Trump doesn’t have a cap in his negotiations on the COVID-19 legislation.
Republicans had proposed $10 billion for the Postal Service while Democrats are set to return to Washington on Saturday to pass a bill with $25 billion in funding.
Negotiations between the White House and Democrats on Capitol Hill broke down earlier this month as the two sides blamed the other for an unwillingness to meet between a $1 trillion GOP proposal and a nearly $4 trillion package pushed by Democrats.
The White House wants to see unemployment benefits and a moratorium on evictions included in any skinny relief bill passed by Congress.
“We are waiting on reckless Speaker Pelosi to get back and do her job,” Ms. McEnany said.
She noted the Postal Service has $25 billion on hand and is funded through 2021, calling Mrs. Pelosi’s suggestion that it can’t handle mail-in ballots for the November election a “farce.”
Mrs. Pelosi, meanwhile, spoke to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Wednesday and said changes he’s made including moving some of the blue mailbox drop boxes, limiting other critical infrastructure and not planning for overtime deliveries have already done damage.
The California Democrat said she’s concerned veterans won’t get medicine delivered in a timely in addition to concerns for mail-in ballots.
“The Postal Service is Election Central during the pandemic, and Democrats will not allow the president to force Americans to choose between their health and their vote,” Mrs. Pelosi said.
Additionally, Rep. Richard E. Neal, Massachusetts Democrat and House Ways and Means Committee chairman, requested Wednesday that the Internal Revenue Service pause with mailing notices on unpaid taxes to taxpayers who could be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and a mail backlog.
“The IRS should not resume sending notices to taxpayers until the backlog has been reduced to pre-pandemic levels and taxpayer accounts have been updated,” Mr. Neal said.
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