Pelosi Says No Airline Aid Without Bigger Stimulus

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday there could be no action on a stand-alone bill to aid airlines or any other sector of the economy without an agreement with the White House and Republicans on a broader economic stimulus package.

Pelosi’s remarks suggested that there would be no quick relief for airlines or resolution of the standoff over aiding the U.S. economy, even as there are signs the recovery could weaken without further stimulus.

Pelosi said aid for airlines would have to be part of a larger stimulus conversation. She has rebuffed President Donald Trump’s called for Congress to pass relief legislation piecemeal.

“They just want money for the president to spend money on who knows what?” Pelosi said at a news conference. “There is no stand-alone bill without a bigger bill.”

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin broached the idea of continuing stimulus discussions during a call with Pelosi on Wednesday, one day after Trump announced on Twitter he was ending negotiations, according to a person familiar with the discussion.

Pelosi said in an interview on Bloomberg television that she drew the “inference” that Mnuchin was interested in broader stimulus talks and that she had confidence in the Treasury secretary. But she said the White House hasn’t provided a full counteroffer to the $2.2 trillion plan that the House passed as the Democrats’ negotiating position.

”I’m always optimistic,” Pelosi said. “Maybe the president, seeing the reaction to his walking away from the table is the opportunity that we have for them to come back to the table for us to get an agreement -- and the sooner the better.”

After accusing Pelosi on Tuesday of not negotiating in good faith, Trump has since changed course and urged trying for a deal on some individual aid packages. On Thursday he told Fox Business that talks on an economic stimulus plan are now “starting to work out.”

Pelosi said she remains open to separate airline aid legislation. “I have made the case to my colleagues that this is a special case,” Pelosi said on Bloomberg TV.

But she said that the country needs a comprehensive plan that would help stem the coronavirus outbreak and the airline package would have to be advanced in the “context” of a broader bill.

She is scheduled to have another round of talks by phone with Mnuchin on Thursday.

A Standard & Poor’s 500 gauge of airline stocks erased gains on the news of Pelosi’s remarks, and broader market indexes retreated from the day’s highs.

“The market is very dependent on stimulus talks,” said David Wagner, portfolio manager and analyst at Aptus Capital Advisors. “I think there is more dependence on that than the actual outcome and policy changes from a change in the administration.”

Despite Pelosi’s stance, Trump on Thursday claimed that multiple pieces of stimulus, including $1,200 individual checks are on the table.

“We started talking again. And we’re talking about airlines and we’re talking about a bigger deal than airlines,” Trump said in the Fox Business interview. “We’re talking about a deal with $1,200 per person, we’re talking about other things.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor that the two sides should continue to try to negotiate a deal, but said there are “vast differences about how much we should spend.”

The Democratic plan calls for $2.2 trillion in spending, while Mnuchin has offered $1.6 trillion. The administration offer, however, is higher than what many Senate Republicans have said they could support.

Even if there was a breakthrough in Pelosi’s talks with Mnuchin, negotiations among House Democrats and the Senate calendar make it unlikely that a stand-alone bill to help airlines -- which are already hemorrhaging tens of thousands of jobs -- will reach the president’s desk before the end of October.

While a measure could pass quickly if no lawmaker in either chamber objects, that’s unlikely to happen. Two Republican senators, Pat Toomey and Mike Lee, said in a statement Thursday that they oppose a bailout for the airline industry without some protections for taxpayers and the ability to make changes to the legislation.

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