Pelosi rejects call to extend coronavirus unemployment relief benefits with smaller bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shot down calls on Thursday to extend unemployment benefits through a smaller coronavirus relief package, arguing passage of a streamlined bill could derail talks on other Democratic funding priorities.

Pelosi explained her position after more than 100 House Democrats called on party leaders to allow a vote on a bill this week to reinstate the expired $600 weekly unemployment benefit for workers. The speaker said she supports calls to tie benefits to the unemployment rate, but felt that it was the wrong “timing” to hold a vote.

“I don't think, strategically, it's where we should go right now, because the Republicans would like to pass something like that and say, forget about it,” Pelosi said in an interview with PBS NewsHour. “Forget about state and local. Forget about our investments in stopping the virus. Forget about other initiatives, about feeding the food-insecure country in our country, vote-by-mail initiatives, and the rest.”