Coronavirus relief bill: Mnuchin rejects Pelosi offer of $2.2trn for new package as jobless Americans remain in limbo

'There [are] tremendous areas of agreement, and that’s what we should be doing right away,' Treasury Secretary says, holding out hope for a narrower deal

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected congressional Democrats' latest offer of a $2.2trn coronavirus relief package on live TV on Tuesday, as lawmakers grilled him on the pandemic economy and the status of government programmes funded in previous packages.

“I do not support $2.2 trillion,” Mr Mnuchin said in response to a question from House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters. “But what is more important is what is the breakdown of getting money to American workers, American families, kids. ... There [are] tremendous areas of agreement, and that’s what we should be doing right away.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have adamantly opposed passing "piecemeal" legislation instead of a comprehensive package.

Mr Mnuchin acknowledged in his opening remarks at the oversight hearing before the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis that "certain areas of the economy require additional relief," and he urged Democrats to help strike a "bipartisan agreement" to stem the flow of economic woes facing renters and people who have lost there jobs this year due to Covid-19.

“I don’t think the right outcome is zero. No one thinks the right outcome is zero,” Mr Mnuchin said.

The US has now surpassed 6m confirmed cases of Covid-19, with more than 184,000 Americans dying from the disease.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics will release unemployment figures for the month of August later this week or early next week. The unemployment rate was 10.2 per cent in July, with 16.3m people in the labour force out of work.

Congress green lighted more than $2.7trn on coronavirus relief this spring on programmes to provide relief to small business, send $1,200 checks to most American taxpayers, and substantially increase federal unemployment benefits.

But the money for the Small Business Association's paycheck protection programme (PPP) has run dry, and the federal unemployment boost has expired. The federal moratorium on rent collection from previous legislation has also ended, leaving millions of unemployed renters in limbo as evictions loom.

Last Thursday, Ms Pelosi spoke via telephone with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to revive negotiations on a coronavirus relief bill, but that conversation went nowhere.

The speaker huddled with the Democratic chairs of relevant House committees, who concluded that the party could shave more than $1trn from their demands in August that mirrored the $3.4trn so-called Heroes Act they passed in the House on a party-line basis in May.

"We have now said we would be willing to go down to $2.2 trillion. These investments are needed both to save lives and to boost the economy," Ms Pelosi wrote last Friday in a Dear Colleague letter to House Democrats.

In an effort to keep negotiations on life support, Ms Waters pressed Mr Mnuchin at the oversight hearing on Tuesday to call Ms Pelosi to resume discussions.

“Can I tell her you suggested I call her right after the hearing?” Mr Mnuchin asked the chairwoman from California.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Ms Waters said.

“Done. I will call her right after the hearing,” Mr Mnuchin said.