US Republicans Prepare $1 Trillion Economic Stimulus Bill

$1,200 Cash Payment and 70% Wage-Level Unemployment Benefits Support
Democratic Party and GOP Face Tough $2 Trillion China Negotiations

Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
[Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The Donald Trump administration and the ruling Republican Party in the United States have decided to push for an additional $1 trillion (1,200 trillion won) economic stimulus package to respond to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Although the expanded unemployment benefits are set to expire this week, the large differences in opinions make it unlikely that negotiations with the Democratic Party will be easily resolved.

According to U.S. media on the 26th (local time), the U.S. government and the Republican Party plan to prepare the Republican economic support bill containing these details on the 27th and enter full-scale negotiations with the Democratic Party.

The additional budget prepared by the Republicans this time is known to be around $1 trillion. Regarding the contentious unemployment benefits, they decided to pursue a plan guaranteeing 70% of pre-unemployment wages. The payroll tax cut, which President Trump had hoped for, was not included in the bill as expected.

Mark Meadows, White House Chief of Staff, appeared on ABC News that day and said that the existing expanded unemployment benefit system, which provides an additional $600 per week, actually made people stay at home, and that the administration and the Republican Party would never do such a thing again.

The Republican Party also prepared a plan to provide an additional $1,200 in cash per adult. It is known to include $105 billion in support for school normalization, additional support for COVID-19 testing, new loans and tax cuts for businesses.

Steven Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, appeared on Fox News and said, "We are ready to act quickly," and "We want to make sure it passes quickly to address unemployment and all other issues." Larry Kudlow, Chairman of the White House National Economic Council (NEC), also claimed that the U.S. economy would achieve a V-shaped recovery in the third quarter. He expressed confidence in the economic recovery, saying, "The U.S. economy is heading north, not south."

However, there is a $2 trillion gap between the Republicans and Democrats over the budget size, and disagreements over detailed items are expected to cause difficulties during congressional negotiations.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on CBS and expressed a negative attitude toward the plan guaranteeing 70% of pre-unemployment wages, saying, "The reason we said $600 was for simplicity," and criticized the Republican proposal as too complicated.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.