Mitch McConnell torpedoes a stimulus package compromise between the White House and Democrats

• McConnell effectively torpedoed a stimulus bill ranging between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion that’s being negotiated by White House and Democrats.
• “My members think what we laid out, a half a trillion dollars, highly targeted, is the best way to go. So that’s what I’m gonna put on the floor,” McConnell told reporters in Kentucky.
• Trump and McConnell are at odds over a coronavirus relief bill, with the president stepping up his calls in recent days.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in Kentucky on Thursday he wouldn’t put a relief bill compromise between the White House and Democrats up for a vote on the Senate floor, effectively torpedoing a negotiated stimulus package.

During an event in Kentucky, McConnell was asked whether he believed a compromise was possible in the realm between $1.8 trillion and $2.2 trillion, the 

“I don’t think so… That’s where the administration’s willing to go,” he said.  “My members think what we laid out, a half a trillion dollars, highly targeted, is the best way to go. So that’s what I’m gonna put on the floor. “

McConnell referred to the ongoing negotiations between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for a coronavirus relief bill. “That’s not what I’m gonna put on the floor,” he said.

Read more: Here’s what could be in Mitch McConnell’s $500 billion coronavirus stimulus bill set for a Senate vote next week

McConnell and President Donald Trump are at odds on another coronavirus relief bill just under three weeks before Election Day. The president has ramped up his calls for another large spending package in recent days, and he’s repeatedly called to “go big or go home” on a coronavirus relief bill.

Trump did so again during a Fox Business interview on Thursday. “We like stimulus, we want stimulus. We think we should have stimulus,” he said, adding Mnuchin “has not come home with the bacon.”

Instead, Senate Republicans are putting a $500 billion aid bill on the floor. McConnell suggested it would be similar to one that Democrats blocked in early September. That legislation contained federal unemployment benefits and small business aid, but omitted $1,200 direct payments for taxpayers.

Read more: A $2.5 billion investment chief highlights the stock-market sectors poised to benefit the most if stimulus is passed after the election — and says Trump ending negotiations doesn’t threaten the economic recovery