Schumer is going to learn that he reports to Nancy

Posted on: July 28, 2020 at 17:01:18 CT

Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said a $600 per week federal unemployment boost was not negotiable in moving forward with a coronavirus package, after the Senate rolled out relief legislation offering $200 per week.


Earlier Tuesday House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said his party could be willing to compromise on the $600 number.

"Look, it's not $600 or bust. ... [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi said the other day, which I thought was a great line: 'We don't have red lines, we have values.' We're going into these negotiations with values," Hoyer told CNN Tuesday. “To say that $600 or nothing, no, that's not where we are. We're prepared to discuss this.”

Schumer disputed Hoyer’s remarks. “We don’t believe that,” the New York Democrat told reporters when asked if $600 was negotiable. “I don’t know what speaker [Leader] Hoyer said.” He added that Democrats believe federal unemployment benefits should be extended through January 31.

Schumer said that the $600 per week in additional unemployment benefits in the CARES act had kept “millions of people out of poverty” and is “why the economy is creeping back up.”