The chances of Congress passing a pre-election stimulus are all but gone, as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin yesterday blamed politics for undermining the months-long negotiations, Bloomberg News reported. “At this point getting something done before the election and executing on that would be difficult, just given where we are in the level of details,” Mnuchin said. With a deal out of reach, the two sides in the talks faulted each other for the breakdown. The Treasury chief, who is scheduled to be in the Middle East next week, made his remarks after another in a long series of calls with Pelosi that have failed to seal a deal. While Mnuchin said he hoped for bipartisan support for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s latest idea -- a vote on a narrow bill next week to help small businesses -- Democratic leaders have no appetite for piecemeal measures now. The inability to bring months of negotiations to conclusion has sparked increasing tensions, with each camp seeing internal strains rise as it becomes clear there won’t be a spending bill to take to the public.
