Negotiations over a new pandemic aid package seem to have returned to square one, as the White House, consumed with election-related litigation, has effectively ceded the space to congressional Republicans, who have signaled they want something far smaller than the $1.8 trillion the administration had been offering, let alone the $2.4 trillion the Democrats are now calling for, reported the New York Times.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that, given the rising number of infections, plus the result of the election, the Democrats have a mandate to provide a comprehensive aid package over the $2.2 trillion that they had been offering in negotiations with the White House this year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who said the Senate Republicans will no longer be relying on the Treasury Department in the stimulus talks, would prefer something closer to the targeted $500 billion packages the Republicans had previously tried to pass. He believes that the economy is improving enough that these smaller packages will be more appropriate.

With such a wide gulf between the parties, and given how long the last round of negotiations went on before collapsing completely, it appears unlikely that there will be some sort of agreement before the end of the year, despite previous assurances otherwise.