(Bloomberg) -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled openness to having the House pass a standalone airline relief bill in a telephone conversation with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday morning.
“The secretary inquired about a standalone airlines bill. The speaker reminded him that Republicans blocked that bill on Friday & asked him to review the DeFazio bill so that they could have an informed conversation,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill tweeted.
Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio on Friday attempted to pass an extension of expiring aid for carriers on the House floor by unanimous consent, but Republicans objected, saying they hadn’t been consulted.
The DeFazio legislation would provide more than $28 billion for airlines and contractors if they held off on layoffs until March 31, 2021.
The renewed interest in the bill comes after President Donald Trump on Tuesday tweeted that he was ending talks on a comprehensive stimulus deal until after the November election. Later Tuesday, Trump called on Democrats to pass standalone bills, such as for airlines relief and for $1,200 stimulus checks.
Job Losses
U.S. carriers have furloughed about 38,000 since Oct. 1, including major layoffs at American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) Group Inc. and United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ:UAL) Inc. Those cuts followed the departure of 150,000 who left airlines voluntarily or accepted leave. Pelosi last week urged carriers to postpone layoffs, promising that relief was imminent.
“We will either enact Chairman DeFazio’s bipartisan standalone legislation or achieve this as part of a comprehensive negotiated relief bill, extending for another six months the Payroll Support Program,” she said in a statement.
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