Peter Navarro, the director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, on Sunday questioned whether congressional leaders are serious about the coronavirus stimulus talks.
In an interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press,” Navarro said there’s a “theory” that “Democrats would prefer to see the economy go into the tank for another 90 days because that harms the president.” He didn’t identify the source of the theory.
"I hope that Capitol Hill hasn’t become that cynical," Navarro said.
According to Navarro, the negotiations “should be easy.”
“The question we've had watching this unfold, the question the president has is, is whether the Democrats really are sincere when they come to the table. And I'm not sure,” he said. “It doesn't help when Speaker Pelosi goes out after every day with her scarfs flying and just beats the heck out of us for being cruel people…”
“We’ve got two sides, one’s at $1 trillion, another's at $3 trillion,” he added. “The first thing you have to do is agree on some number in between. Once you do that, step two is figure out, within that, what you both agree on. And then, what you do is you trade off, go back and forth across the table on what you want, respecting each other’s red lines.”
Navarro said he expects President Donald Trump’s executive orders will ultimately “stand up” legally,
“I’m confident every single one of those orders, which cleared through the Office of Legal Counsel, will stand up,” he said.
“If you look at the eviction and foreclosure language, [it contains] the words ‘shall consider,’ that’s how you have to write it but everybody knows in that bureaucracy you damn well should do it and they will,” he said. “The payroll tax cut, you clearly have the authority to do that, that can be done easily through the Treasury Department.”
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