Party leaders go to their corners ahead of hashing out stimulus

Having wrapped up business ahead of the Thanksgiving break, Democratic and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill were set Friday to retreat to their respective corners to plot strategy for future coronavirus stimulus talks.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer were to meet with President-elect Joe Biden, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was set to talk with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Despite the elapsing of two weeks since news organizations called the election in Biden’s favor, there has been little change in public stances on relief legislation on either side of the aisle. Republicans continue to say a smaller package — in the hundreds of billions of dollars, per McConnell, rather than in the trillions — would be preferable to a larger one, like the most recent $2.2 trillion offer from Democrats.