Good morning.

We have all the details from the @SpeakerPelosi- @SenSchumer - @stevenmnuchin1- @markmeadows Covid relief talks in PLAYBOOK this morning

Here’s a thread of every topic they discussed, and the details that have been traded

< @stevenmnuchin1 -- who initially predicted a Covid deal would pass two weeks ago -- told reporters Tuesday evening that if there were a deal to be had on Covid relief, it would have to be reached by Friday.

GOP CONCESSIONS

— $400/wk thru Dec. 15. Up significantly, but not yet at the $600 level dems want.
— Eviction moratorium thru 12/15
— $200b in state and local money. Dems say the offer is actually $150b.

DEM CONCESSIONS
— lowered ask on USPS from 25 to 10b

TON of outstanding issues:

— ENHANCED UI. Rs have moved, but Ds see @senatemajldr suggesting 600, so they dont have incentive to give into R offer.

IN THE MTG: PELOSI told Rs: “I’m not going to tell single moms: ‘Good news! The pandemic continues and we cut your benefit.’”

— ELECTION $: no agreement. Rs believe Ds using it to move to mail in balloting. SCHUMER pushed back saying it will be up to states

@stevenmnuchin1 said he wasn’t an electoral ballot expert. PELOSI shot back: "Well, it’s good you admit you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

— PENSIONS: big fix needed. Mnuchin/Meadows said they’d talk to trump and figure out if there’s a way forward.

PELOSI called pensions “a different breed of cat,” and suggested that the difference couldn’t be split between the two parties.

-- EDUCATION: There is still a ways to go. They have disagreement on the top line, and how it’s allocated. Semantics, but important:

Republicans say that ed should be counted as a state and local funding issue, and Ds say this is nonsense. This was the cause of a disagreement between PELOSI and MEADOWS in the mtg.

-- CHILDCARE: Dems are at $50 billion and Republicans are at $15 billion, so the two sides have a ways to go. The negotiators decided to move on from discussing this.

-- POSTAL: They mostly tabled this pending their conversation with the postmaster general today.

SCHUMER passed MNUCHIN printed copies of 10 articles from around the country showing postal delays in order to press his case -- including a @PhillyInquirer story that showed how ppl have gone 3wks w/o deliveries, leaving them without meds and other essential goods,

and a WaPo story about how Michiganders hadn’t received their absentee or mail ballot.

DEMOCRATS DID GO DOWN TO $10 BILLION from $25 billion here, and MNUCHIN and MEADOWS said they’d look at their proposal.

-- BROADBAND: Democrats are analyzing a proposal that Republicans brought. It seems as if there will be an agreement here.

-- FOOD ASSISTANCE/SNAP: There is a BIG gap to make up here, and the two sides fought bitterly.

-- RENTER/HOMEOWNER ASSISTANCE: Republicans proposed their eviction moratorium, and Democrats didn’t like it -- and fought over it. They think there’s more to do here.

-- TESTING: Still a ways to go here, but they seem to want to come to a conclusion. Democrats are selling their plan as being “conservative” -- decentralizing power to the states to test. Democrats suggested the GOP was too bureaucratic.

PELOSI said the administration had failed in testing, and the Democrats’ plan should be put in place. “We have a huge testing problem -- we’ve failed,” she said.

AT THE END, MEADOWS said, “We are making little progress. There is still the $3.4 trillion donkey or elephant in the room. There will be no number anywhere close.” PELOSI said: “It’s a beautiful swan.”