Stimulus Talks Near Brink of Collapse

“Negotiations on a new coronavirus relief bill edged toward the brink of collapse after a meeting Thursday between White House officials and top congressional Democrats ended with each side accusing the other of being unwilling to compromise and the biggest issues far from resolved,” Bloomberg reports.

“The four negotiators, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, emerged from a more than three-hour meeting with little to show and with no guarantee they would resume talks on Friday.”

Playbook: “There are lots of political calculations in legislative negotiations: what to give away when, what to ask for, where to hold the meeting and what aide to bring in tow, for example. Perhaps nothing is more tricky than deciding when — and how — to walk away.”