Tag: Mark Meadows

White House pivots again on stimulus negotiations after bipartisan backlash

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Trump aides now call for Congress to repurpose unused small-business funding, the latest in a series of approaches to a relief bill

The White House again pivoted its approach to stimulus negotiations on Sunday, with the president’s aides pushing for immediate action on a narrow measure after the administration’s $1.8 trillion proposal was rebuffed by members of both parties.

In a letter to Congress sent Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asked lawmakers to first pass legislation allowing the Trump administration to redirect about $130 billion in unused funding from the Paycheck Protection Program intended for small businesses while negotiations continue on a broader relief effort.

The administration’s latest request is unlikely to advance in the House, where Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has rejected stand-alone legislation in favor of a comprehensive package to address the economic and health consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. The administration’s $1.8 trillion stimulus proposal on Friday came under heavy criticism from lawmakers in both parties over the weekend, making its chances of passing appear remote. Continue reading.

Live updates: WH chief of staff says Trump’s vitals over past 24 hours are ‘very concerning’

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NOTE: This article about COVID-19 is provided free of charge by The Washington Post.

The White House on Saturday created a startling amount of confusion on the timing of President Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis and the status of his health through a series of conflicting statements, injecting an extraordinary degree of uncertainty into the nation’s understanding of the president’s condition and who may have been exposed to the deadly virus.

At a Saturday morning news conference, members of Trump’s medical team at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said the president is fever-free and that they are “extremely happy” with the progress he has made. But Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, said Trump went through a “very concerning” period over the last day.

“The president’s vitals over the last 24 hours were very concerning, and the next 48 hours will be critical in terms of his care,” Meadows said. “We’re still not on a clear path to a full recovery.” Continue reading.

A Deal on Drug Prices Undone by White House Insistence on ‘Trump Cards’

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The White House and the pharmaceutical industry were nearing a major deal to lower drug prices. Then the administration demanded that $100 cash cards be sent to millions of seniors before the election — and the industry balked.

WASHINGTON — After months of heated accusations and painstaking negotiations, the White House and the pharmaceutical industry neared agreement late last month on a plan to make good on President Trump’s longstanding promise to lower drug prices.

The drug companies would spend $150 billion to address out-of-pocket consumer costs and would even pick up the bulk of the co-payments that older Americans shoulder in Medicare’s prescription drug program.

Then the agreement collapsed. The breaking point, according to four people familiar with the discussions: Mark Meadows, Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, insisted the drug makers pay for $100 cash cards that would be mailed to seniors before November — “Trump Cards,” some in the industry called them. Continue reading.

Mark Meadows smears Trump’s sister over audio tapes: ‘She didn’t show up for her brother’s funeral’

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White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Sunday sought to smear the President Donald Trump’s sister, retired federal Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, after she was heard on audio calling him a liar.

“His goddamned tweet and lying, oh my God,” Barry can be heard saying in audio recorded by the president’s niece. “It’s the phoniness and this cruelty.”

On Sunday, Meadows slammed Barry during an interview on ABC’s This Week. Continue reading.

Mark Meadows claims lack of evidence of widespread voter fraud is somehow the ‘definition of fraud’

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On CNN’s State of the Union, host Jake Tapper talked to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about the Trump administration’s latest favorite talking point: voter fraud. Specifically, voter fraud via voting by mail. In this case, Meadows came out swinging against the notion that states should send ballots to all registered voters. In perhaps the most mind-blowing exchange, Tapper (accurately) pointed out that there is no proof of “widespread voter fraud,” and Meadows said, “there’s no evidence that there’s not, either.” Then, Meadows added: “That’s the definition of fraud, Jake.”

How did we get there? Let’s check out the now-viral clip below.

While already talking about voter fraud, Tapper asked Meadows to get specific, using voting by mail in Florida versus Pennsylvania as examples, as Trump, as well as First Lady Melania Trump, requested their absentee ballots to vote in Florida just last week. In fact, Trump even voted absentee for Florida’s March primary. Continue reading.

New Trump chief of staff drew hard line during relief talks, challenging Democrats’ approach

Washington Post logoIrritated by multiple leaks during the coronavirus relief negotiations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi instituted a rule forbidding participants from bringing in their phones, so that talks couldn’t be recorded.

But on Wednesday, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows refused to surrender his device upon entering Pelosi’s office, insisting he had an important call to take, according to two people familiar with the episode who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe it.

Pelosi (D-Calif.) told Meadows that the phone had to go, or he did.

Still Meadows refused. Continue reading.

Wary GOP eyes Meadows shift from brick-thrower to dealmaker

The Hill logoWhite House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who as a conservative lawmaker in the House lambasted congressional dealmakers from the outside, is now the guy in the room where it happens whom Republicans are depending on to craft a coronavirus relief package.

Meadows, the former chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, is in a difficult spot.

His boss, President Trump, is down in the polls with less than 100 days to go before Election Day, largely because of negative reviews of his response to the coronavirus pandemic that has wreaked havoc on a formerly strong economy. Continue reading.

Economic relief talks to ramp up Monday as Democrats, White House agree to sit down

Washington Post logoPelosi and Schumer will meet with Mnuchin and Meadows as they face the expiration of jobless aid within days

Top Democrats and the White House plan to meet Monday evening as they rush to begin negotiations over an economic relief bill aimed at addressing fallout from the coronaviruspandemic, bumping up against a tight deadline before expanded jobless aid expires later this week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) plan to meet at 6 p.m. with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to begin formal talks. Negotiations were delayed because Democrats were waiting for the White House and Senate Republicans to unify behind a single plan, something that was expected to be released on Monday afternoon.

The White House and Senate Republican plan is expected to call for around $1 trillion in new spending, while the House Democrats have coalesced around a $3 trillion plan they passed in May. Pelosi earlier on Monday criticized Republicans for waiting so long to begin negotiations, saying “children are hungry, families cannot pay the rent, unemployment is expiring and the Republicans want to pause again and go piecemeal.” Continue reading.

Mnuchin says GOP has ‘fundamental’ deal on $1T coronavirus relief package

The Hill logoThe White House and Senate Republicans on Thursday reached a “fundamental agreement” on a coronavirus package, according to a top negotiator.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — after a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — said staff were now trying to finalize text of the agreement, which is expected to be released as a group of bills instead of one piece of legislation.

“We just had a very productive discussion with the leader. We do have a fundamental agreement between the White House and the Republicans in the Senate,” Mnuchin told reporters. Continue reading.

In Mark Meadows, Donald Trump finally has a chief of staff as dense as he is

AlterNet logoWhite House chief of staff Mark Meadows has been, from the start of his political career, a complete ideologue. A tea party darling, Meadows led the U.S. House Freedom Caucus—the crazy wing of the crazy party. Among his greatest hits was voting against Hurricane Sandy relief, leading the charge for the 2013 government shutdown, and providing the catalyst (via a resolution) for Republican House Speaker John Boehner’s resignation in 2015. And he was oh-so-loyal to Donald Trump from day one.

One would think, however, that being a back-bencher in a chamber with 435 seats was different than actually being in charge of staff. One would further think that once put in actual charge would lead one to behave more responsibly. But nope. In Meadows, Trump finally found someone as destructively stupid as he.

Exhibit A: There are lots of reasons Trump has f’d up the national response to the global mass death event wreaking havoc in our country. Turns out, Meadows is a big one. In one corner, you had Trump too afraid to lead, over his head, and stewing that the virus was so unfairly harming his reelection chances. In the other corner, you had …. Continue reading.