Mnuchin Signals Trump Admin Can Come to an Agreement on Coronavirus Relief If Dems Are ‘Reasonable’

After President Donald Trump acted unilaterally to provide some relief to Americans, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he believes the Republicans and Democrats can reach an agreement on a coronavirus relief bill.

In an interview on CNBC on Monday, Mnuchin said, “I think there is a compromise if the Democrats are willing to be reasonable,” adding, “There is still a lot of things that we need to do and that we’ve agreed on.”

He noted that Republicans and Democrats agree that schools need money to reopen safely. Additionally, he said both sides agreed that they probably need to infuse the Paycheck Protection Program with more money to help small businesses, as well as provide funding for vaccine research and development.

And while both sides agreed that state and local governments need financial assistance, Mnuchin balked at Democrats’ proposal to allocate $1 trillion for that provision of the bill.

“We’ve given them flexibility, and we’ve offered more money for state and local. But we’re not going to give $1 trillion to state and local, that’s just not a reasonable approach,” he said.

Watch the video below:

The funding for state and local has emerged as a sticking point in the negotiations. During an interview on Fox News on Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi