Worried that $2 trillion law wasn’t enough, President Trump and congressional leaders converge on need for new coronavirus economic package

Congressional leaders and the White House are converging on the need for a new assistance package to try to contain the coronavirus pandemic’s economic devastation, fearful that a $2 trillion bailout law enacted in March will have only a limited effect. Democratic Reps are eyeing a package of spending increases that would “easily” cost more than $1 trillion, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said. In a sign that lawmakers might be preparing to cut a deal, Speaker Pelosi has backed away from some of her recent proposals that Republican Reps found most objectionable, including a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. 

Speaker Pelosi and Democratic Reps recently rolled out a host of more ambitious — and controversial — measures, including new federal workplace safety standards for health-care providers and the infrastructure plan. But Speaker Pelosi later said that those ideas might have to wait. “While I’m very much in favor of doing some of the things that we need to do to meet the needs — clean water, more broadband and the rest of that — that may have to be for a bill beyond this,” Speaker Pelosi said April 3. “Right now, I think that we have a good model — it was bipartisan, it was signed by the president, but it’s not enough.” The Senate has tentatively scheduled votes for the week of April 20, and the House leadership has also targeted that week for potential votes. But aides say the legislative schedule is entirely dependent on the course of the pandemic and whether the two chambers and Trump can come together on workable legislation.