It was the first contact between the two sides since talks collapsed late last week, but there was little sign of progress. Democrats said Mr. Mnuchin would not agree to a package larger than $1 trillion and Mr. Mnuchin accused Democrats of insisting on a $2 trillion threshold for any agreement, according to statements released by both sides. Mr. Mnuchin, according to the two Democrats, was still “refusing to budge” from that level. “It is clear that the administration still does not grasp the magnitude of the problems that American families are facing,” Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Schumer said in a joint statement. “We have again made clear to the administration that we are willing to resume negotiations once they start to take this process seriously.”

Source: New York Times August 12, 2020 23:03 UTC