Mitch McConnell says he has told the White House NOT to do a stimulus deal with Nancy Pelosi before the election as she claims there is still time to cut one

 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday told fellow Republicans that he has warned the White House not to divide Republicans by sealing a lopsided pre-election COVID-19 relief deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - even as he publicly said he'd slate any such agreement for a vote.

McConnell made his remarks during a private lunch with fellow Republicans on Tuesday, three people familiar with his remarks said, requesting anonymity because the session was private.

The move comes amid increasingly loud noises from within McConnell's caucus about a large coronavirus relief bill. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says he has warned the White House not to divide Republicans by sealing a lopsided pre-election COVID-19 relief deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says he has warned the White House not to divide Republicans by sealing a lopsided pre-election COVID-19 relief deal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

The Kentucky Republican appears worried that an agreement between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin would drive a wedge between Republicans, forcing them to choose whether to support a Pelosi-blessed deal with Trump that would violate conservative positions they've stuck with for months. Many Republicans say they can't vote for another huge Pelosi-brokered agreement. 


McConnell's move dampens even further any potential for an agreement and comes as Pelosi and Mnuchin have arrived at a critical phase of their talks if any relief is going to be enacted by Election Day. The contours of a potential deal are taking shape behind the scenes even as President Donald Trump's GOP allies are recoiling at the administration's tolerance for a $2 trillion package.

It comes at a high-stakes moment, with just days left for a possible deal, and potential implications for the November elections. If there isn't a deal before the elections, it may not happen in a 'lame duck' session should Trump lose the election.

The president acknowledged strains among Republicans, amid criticism that he has failed to get a deal that could have fueled his own reelection.

Key Republicans have been putting some distance between themselves and Trump in recent weeks, and some members of McConnell's caucus have warned about the costs of another relief package

Key Republicans have been putting some distance between themselves and Trump in recent weeks, and some members of McConnell's caucus have warned about the costs of another relief package

President Donald Trump has kept his administration negotiating with Pelosi, and could benefit from another round of stimulus checks just days before Election Day

President Donald Trump has kept his administration negotiating with Pelosi, and could benefit from another round of stimulus checks just days before Election Day

McConnell: Senate will 'consider' larger stimulus bill from Dems
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He claimed McConnell, who holds the key to the GOP floor agenda, would ultimately come 'onboard.'

'Well, he'll be onboard if something comes. But let me just explain that it's very simple. I want to do it even bigger than the Democrats,' Trump claimed.

The House passed a $3 trillion bill in May, but since there through fits and starts negotiations have brought the number downward by more than $1 trillion.

'Not every Republican agrees with me but they will. But I want to do it even bigger than the Democrats because this is money going to people that did not deserve what happened to them coming out of China,' the president told 'Fox & Friends' Tuesday.

'Now, to just put it very simply, we want to do it but Nancy Pelosi doesn't want to do it. We'll see whether or not she changes her mind. But we want to do it because people need help and they should get help.' 

'Here's the problem, she doesn't want to do anything until after the election because she thinks that helps her,' he claimed. 'I actually think it helps us, because everyone knows that she is the one that's breaking up the deal.'

McConnell's lieutenant, party whip Sen. John Thune, has said there may not be GOP support to pass a $1.8 trillion bill.

'It'd be hard,' Thune told reporters. 

Nancy Pelosi
Steven Mnuchin

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (left) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (right) will engage in last-ditch effort talks to reach a stimulus deal on Tuesday after Pelosi's self-imposed 48-hour deadline expires

Tuesday marks day 91 since COVID-19 relief negotiations began – and neither side of the aisle is prepared to pass the opposing party's version of the legislation. 

But Trump also allowed during the interview: 'Now maybe she changes her tune and I can tell you there is a little bit of that and that would be a very positive thing for the American people.' 


The move comes as key Republicans including Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) have been putting some distance between themselves and Trump in recent weeks. 

McConnell said if such a bill passed the Democratic-controlled House with Trump's blessing 'we would put it on the floor of the Senate.' Those public remarks came after the private session with fellow Republicans.

Trump is hoping for an agreement before the election, eager to announce another round of $1,200 direct payments going out under his name, but it's increasingly clear that time has pretty much run out. If he wins, Trump is promising relief, but if he loses - as polls are indicating - it's unclear that his enthusiasm for delivering COVID aid will be as strong. Recent history suggests that any post-election lame-duck session in the event of a Trump loss wouldn't produce much.

FILE - In this May 22, 2020, file photo the Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible through heavy fog in Washington. New virus relief will have to wait until after the November election. Congress is past the point at which it can deliver more coronavirus aid soon, with differences between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump proving insurmountable. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

FILE - In this May 22, 2020, file photo the Dome of the U.S. Capitol Building is visible through heavy fog in Washington. New virus relief will have to wait until after the November election. Congress is past the point at which it can deliver more coronavirus aid soon, with differences between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Republicans and President Donald Trump proving insurmountable. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke again Tuesday amid signs that they are continuing to narrow their differences. Pelosi said earlier Tuesday that they remain at odds over refundable tax credits for the working poor and families with children, the size of a Democratic-sought aid package for state and local governments, and a liability shield for businesses and other organizations against lawsuits over their COVID preparations.

Pelosi's spokesman, Drew Hammill, wrote on Twitter that she and Mnuchin spoke for 45 minutes and found 'more clarity and common ground' and that 'both sides are serious about finding a compromise.' Another conversation is slated for Wednesday.

The Pelosi-Mnuchin talks also involve pandemic jobless aid, a second round of $1,200 direct payments, and money for schools, testing and vaccines.

Pelosi had said Tuesday was a deadline day, but clarified in an interview with Bloomberg News that the aim is to spur the two sides to exchange their best proposals on a host of unresolved issues, not to close out all of their disagreements or have final legislative language at hand.

'Let's see where we are,' Pelosi said Tuesday. 'We all want to get an agreement.'

Aides familiar with the talks say the price tag for a potential Pelosi-Mnuchin deal is inching close to $2 trillion. Senate Republicans are recoiling at both the size of the measure and Pelosi's demands, even as Trump is beating the drums for an agreement.

'I want to do it even bigger than the Democrats. Not every Republican agrees,' Trump said Tuesday on Fox News. 'But they will.'

But Republicans have spent months talking about a smaller aid package and the top GOP vote-counter, Sen. John Thune, said Monday that 'it would be hard' to find the necessary Republican support for passage of any agreement in that range.

McConnell, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with votes this week on GOP measures that stand little chance of advancing. On Tuesday, the GOP-held chamber went on record in favor of another round of payroll subsidies for businesses such as restaurants and hotels that are having particular difficulty during the pandemic.

But while the vote put the Senate on record as supportive of the idea, it´s not aimed at advancing the measure through time-consuming procedural steps that could interfere with a floor schedule dominated by the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, Trump´s GOP allies in the Senate are slated to support a revote on a virus proposal with a net cost of about $500 billion, though it does not include the $1,200 direct payments that are so important to Trump. But the Senate GOP bill has failed once before, and Trump himself says it's too puny.

The goodwill and bipartisanship that powered the $1.8 trillion bipartisan CARES Act into law in March has largely dissipated. It passed by an overwhelming margin as the economy went into lockdown. Since then, Trump and many of his GOP allies have focused on loosening social and economic restrictions as the key to recovery instead of more taxpayer-funded help.

The moment is challenging for Pelosi as well. For months she has been promising a COVID relief package of more than $2 trillion stuffed with Obama-era stimulus ideas. Even though the Senate and White House are both in GOP hands - and will be at least into January - she has sharply rebuffed anyone who suggests that Democrats should take a smaller deal now rather than risk going home empty-handed until next year.

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2020, file photo Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky. walks towards the Senate floor on Capitol Hill in Washington. New virus relief will have to wait until after the November election. The architect of the Senate measure, McConnell, isn't claiming the vote will advance the ball. Once the measure fails, he plans to turn the chamber's full attention to cementing a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court by confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2020, file photo Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell of Ky. walks towards the Senate floor on Capitol Hill in Washington. New virus relief will have to wait until after the November election. The architect of the Senate measure, McConnell, isn't claiming the vote will advance the ball. Once the measure fails, he plans to turn the chamber's full attention to cementing a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court by confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

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