Mnuchin does not make the decisions. They sent Meadows to sabotage any bill, once there was no chance they let Mnuchin go on his own... the message is a little stark, right?
I am just puzzled by the political strategy that the Trump WH is running, and has run, and its stance on a relief bill.
If they want any chance in the Fall, they need to pass a bill FAST. The states and cities are hurting and will be on their knees in the fall, all those laid off workers are hurting, CV is now rising in rural areas and Republican states the fastest... Yet the Trump WH continues to say -- and apparently believe (!) -- that the pandemic is under control. They still won't support a universal mask mandate or even whole heartedly press a PR campaign to that end...
Who is advising Trump? The continued denial of the pandemic is a disaster, but they have doubled down continually. The sensible response would have been to blame someone, then get after a national plan and policies -- they could have turned pandemic response into a positive. They still could, but just won't. (Places like Georgia that sent kids back to school are already spiking...)
It appears Meadows has been (and apparently still is !) a skeptic about the pandemic and we know he is a fiscal conservative, and so deeply opposed to spending nd another relief bill... I think appointing Meadows as Chief of Staff may have been one of the most unfortunate moves Trump made. Right now, the political judgements, and strategic moves, are not helping Trump but burying him. Until he fires Meadows, and/or gets an new political adviser, then I will continue to think Trump is toast...
