The State of the Parties in Goveranment

Jonathan Lemire and Laurie Kellman at Associated Press:

Two of the most powerful people in Washington haven’t spoken in five months at a time when the nation is battling its worst health crisis in a century, one that has already killed more than 6,000 Americans and put 10 million others out of work.

President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last talked Oct. 16, when Pelosi pointed her finger at the seated president during a heated exchange in a White House meeting that was captured in a widely shared photograph. Pelosi stormed out, and the two leaders’ frayed relationship was soon severed by the House’s impeachment of Trump months later.

Now, there are worries the broken relationship could hinder the federal government’s ability to respond to the growing coronavirus crisis, the extent of the damage reflected in Thursday’s report that a record 6.6 million people filed for unemployment, adding to more than 3 million from two weeks earlier.

...
The coronavirus has proved disproportionately deadly for older Americans; Pelosi turned 80 last week, while Trump is 73. But neither has slowed down their public schedule, and they haven’t stopped sniping.

“I don’t know what I would learn in a conversation with the president,” Pelosi said this week.

Retorted Trump on Fox News Channel: “She’s a sick puppy.”

Paul Kane and Erica Werner at The Washington Post:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) dismissed sharp criticism from President Trump and senior congressional Republicans as political theater that did not represent the real status of ongoing talks on the next phase of emergency legislation to deal with the impact of the novel coronavirus.

Pelosi described comments from Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who told The Washington Post on Wednesday that she should “stand down” on passing a relief bill in the House, as just part of “playing to their base” of conservative activists while behind-the-scenes negotiations moved along among the key players.

“That’s chicken feed,” Pelosi said in a brief interview Friday morning, explaining that the emerging legislation would be “big” and have bipartisan support. “You can’t pay attention to that stuff. And that’s the communication of it all.”

For my Congress class, I posted Trump's letter to Schumer, which is quite something.