(Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he hopes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be interested in jump-starting negotiations over a coronavirus stimulus package when the chamber returns to discuss U.S. Postal Service funding.
With the House returning to Washington this week, Mnuchin said Tuesday on CNBC: “Since Speaker Pelosi is coming back to look at Postal, hopefully she will be more interested in sitting down.” The chamber is set to vote Saturday on adding $25 billion in Postal Service funding.
Democrats and the White House have been locked in a stalemate over a new stimulus package, with Democrats demanding more funding than Republicans. The two sides are at least $1 trillion apart on another package of relief to overcome the ravages of a pandemic that continues to force companies, schools and other organizations to roll back plans to reopen for business.
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said Democrats have already compromised in negotiations. “We welcome the White House back to the negotiating table but they must meet us halfway,” Hammill said in an email.
Mnuchin also told CNBC that there’s “a lot of bipartisan support” for adding funds to the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said there was an “agreement in principle” with Democrats to expand the program before talks broke down.
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