Trump Criticizes Emerging Coronavirus Relief Compromise Ahead of House Vote

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday denounced a sweeping relief package to assist people affected by the outbreak of the coronavirus hours before a scheduled House vote, leaving the fate of an emerging compromise between Democrats and his administration unclear even as top officials continued to negotiate.

“We don’t think they’re giving enough,” Mr. Trump of Democrats said during a news conference in the Rose Garden as he announced he was declaring a national emergency and other measures to respond to the coronavirus crisis. “They’re not doing what’s right for the country.”

His comments came after Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California announced the House would go forward later in the day with its scheduled vote on the bill, effectively daring Republicans to vote against the Democratic package. It includes a sweeping new paid sick leave provision, enhanced unemployment benefits, free virus testing and additional funds for food assistance.

But it omits Mr. Trump’s highest priority for an economic response to the rapidly spreading pandemic, a huge payroll tax cut opposed by members of both political parties. After the president’s remarks, a senior administration official said the absence of the tax cut from the plan was what prompted the president to call it insufficient.

Yet even as Mr. Trump criticized the measure and Democrats’ approach, his administration continued to negotiate with Democratic leaders in efforts to salvage it. As the president began to denounce the package, Ms. Pelosi and Steven T. Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, were speaking by phone for the 10th time of the day to try to cement an elusive deal. They spoke again before his Rose Garden appearance, which lasted more than an hour, had concluded.

Republicans have derided Democrats’ proposal as an expensive and ineffective overreach, and as of Friday afternoon, were pushing to narrow an emergency leave assistance tax credit targeted to businesses who have fewer than 500 workers. They have also objected to a Democratic effort to include permanent entitlements for health conditions unrelated to the coronavirus.

But Ms. Pelosi argued on Friday that it was urgently needed.

“The American people expect and deserve a coordinated, science-based and whole-of-government response to keep them and their loved ones safe — a response that puts families first to stimulate the economy,” Ms. Pelosi said at the Capitol before Mr. Trump’s remarks.

In a phone call with members of his conference after huddling with the president at the White House, Representative Kevin McCarthy, Republican of California and the minority leader, conceded that House Republicans had little role in shaping the package, noting that it was being negotiated entirely between Mr. Mnuchin and Ms. Pelosi, according to two people on the phone call, speaking on the condition of anonymity to publicly discuss a private phone call.

Since Democrats first introduced the legislation on Wednesday, an intense round of talks has unfolded between Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Mnuchin, as financial markets swung wildly amid uncertainty about the virus. Staff worked through the night on Thursday to hammer out a deal, and the two traded phone calls throughout the day on Friday to try to cement it.

In a letter to colleagues, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat, said that the past 48 hours had been “frustrating,” and that Ms. Pelosi “has literally been working around the clock to achieve a bipartisan agreement.” Mr. Hoyer said those efforts continued, but a vote would be held whether or not there was a compromise.

But in the call with Republican lawmakers, Mr. McCarthy outlined multiple concessions he said Republicans had won in the emerging package, including language banning the use of any new federal funds for abortions. Democrats also agreed to drop a provision that would have created a permanent paid sick leave entitlement program in case of a public health emergency, although the two parties continued to haggle over how broadly to provide the help.

Mr. McCarthy told his colleagues he did not know just how broad the package would be, or how much it would cost. It will include more than $1 billion to help bolster a variety of food assistance programs.

“If Democrats made concessions or Republicans made suggestions, I would hope there’s strong bipartisan support because out there, frankly, in the districts, they don’t care whether it’s a Republican or a Democrat,” said Representative Nita M. Lowey, Democrat of New York and chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee. “They want to see some action.”

Catie Edmondson, Nicholas Fandos and Sheryl Gay Stolberg contributed reporting.

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