(Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated that Democrats were ready to cut their stimulus proposal “in half” to get a deal with Republicans on relief vital to support the U.S. economy amid the Covid-19 crisis, but an aide later said that wasn’t what she meant.
“We’re willing to cut our bill in half to meet the needs right now,” Pelosi said in an interview with Politico Playbook on Tuesday.
Asked about her statement, Drew Hammill, a Pelosi spokesman, said in an email that the speaker was referring to her previous stance of meeting Republicans “halfway, not cutting our bill in half.”
The Democratic-controlled House had passed a stimulus package worth about $3.5 trillion in May, which died in the Senate. Talks between Democratic leaders and the White House, which endorsed a $1 trillion proposal, have been stalled since Aug. 7. Pelosi had previously said Democrats could cut their top-line by $1 trillion if the Republicans moved up by $1 trillion.
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