(Bloomberg) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she hopes the current selloff in U.S. stocks will motivate President Donald Trump to agree to Democratic demands in stalled stimulus talks and end a three-month stalemate.
“What the president cares a lot about is the stock market,” Pelosi said on MSNBC. “As he sees the market react to the spread of the virus and sees the market react to the fact that we do not have an agreement -- which could inject resources into the economy -- hopefully now he will come to the table in a serious way.”
Trump has blamed Pelosi for the impasse, saying she is holding up an agreement to provide aid to Democrat-run states and cities.
After shrugging off the impasse in Washington over a relief package during summer, stocks began showing signs of concern in September, when the S&P 500 Index logged its first monthly decline since a rout in March. Stock indexes tumbled this week as it became clear that no pre-election deal is in the offing and coronavirus infections are rising. The S&P 500 was down 3% as of 3:19 p.m. on Wednesday, heading for its worst day in almost two months.
Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last spoke Monday and were unable to resolve an impasse over language in a proposed bill directing the administration to develop a comprehensive anti-Covid-19 virus strategy. The two sides differed on how $75 billion in testing and tracing funds can be used.
That sticking point is one of several, including Democratic demands for aid for cash-strapped state and local governments and Republican demands for liability protections for companies from Covid-19 related lawsuits.
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