(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — White House officials warned Senate Republicans on Wednesday that if a COVID-19 relief deal couldn’t be reached with Democrats by Friday, negotiations will likely stop.

“I think at this point we’re either going to get serious about negotiating and get an agreement in principle,” Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters Wednesday.  “I’ve become extremely doubtful that we’ll be able to make a deal if it goes well beyond Friday.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded to Meadows’ remarks saying “We will stay here as long as it takes to get an agreement and we urge Mr. Meadows to sit down and continue to work with us.”

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin tried to walk back the deadline set by Meadows, adding that he does not “want to describe this as an end-of-the-week deadline.”  However, Meadows held firm, while holding out the possibility of executive actions by President Trump on student loans, unemployment insurance and evictions. He declined to say, though, what the timeline for action would be.

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