New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday pleaded with President Donald Trump for billions of dollars in federal aid for states and cities, making the case during a personal meeting at the White House.
“We need a significant amount. This is a big hit,” Murphy, the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, told Trump during the morning meeting in the Oval Office.
“We don’t see this as a bailout, we see this as a partnership — doing the right thing in what is the worst health care crisis in the history of our nation.”But the president, responding to a question about federal aid posed by a reporter, would not commit. He said it was a “tough question” whether to provide states with money in the fallout of the pandemic, even as Democrats in Congress insist the next stimulus bill must include funds to cover local revenue losses.
Across the country, states and cities are facing insurmountable budgets gaps that, some warn, will soon lead to mass layoffs and severe cuts to public services.
After Democratic lawmakers backed off of their demands to include a state bailout in the most recent stimulus bill, Trump signaled a willingness to provide aid in the next round of negotiations. But he backed off after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said governors should go “the bankruptcy route“ — an option not available to states.
The Kentucky Republican opened the door to a compromise this week, saying in an interview with POLITICO that it was “highly likely” the next coronavirus response bill will aid local governments. In exchange, he wants Congress to agree on limits to the legal liability of health care workers, business owners and employees as the country starts to reopen in the coming weeks and months.
For New Jersey, which has faced the second-worst coronavirus outbreak in the nation following New York, a cash infusion is desperately needed. Murphy, a first-term governor who was a top executive at Goldman Sachs, froze $1 billion in spending and negotiated a deal to push the state’s budget deadline back three months. Last week, New Jersey was handed its first credit rating downgrade in years.
Murphy, a Democrat and frequent Trump critic, has taken a much more amicable approach to dealing with the president since the pandemic arrived in the state in March. The president has noticed, too, making mention of Murphy in some of his press conferences.
Both Trump and the governor had kind words for each other at their meeting.
Trump told reporters that Murphy has done a “terrific job” as governor of New Jersey.
“He runs [the state] with heart and brains,” Trump said.
Murphy thanked the president for sending an abundant supply of ventilators, and said that the federal government will help rapidly expand testing. He hopes that testing should, hopefully, more than double by the end of May.
“A big part of our ability to reopen, as we all want to, is rapidly expand testing, you all, literally in the here and now, are helping us in a big way,” Murphy said.
The president also referenced Murphy’s recent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his kidney.
“He’s gone through a big operation before this happened. That’s a big deal,” Trump told reporters.
“You can’t have a representative better than this man, that I can tell you,” he added. “Plus, he’s an old Goldman Sachs guy.”
Jared Kushner and Kellyanne Conway were also present, as well as White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow and coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, according to pool reports.