A major American airline made a grim announcement that they will have to lay off 19,000 employees after House Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, failed to sign a coronavirus relief deal.

Since March, American Airlines has held off with the furloughs in hopes that the administration can provide a $25 billion payroll program to keep their employees. The program was a part of the administration’s plan to help airlines cope with the massive effect that the coronavirus pandemic had on the aviation and tourism industry. The government’s goal was to provide additional support in terms of crash bookings, canceled flight shutdowns, and quarantines. Moreover, the Republicans believed that the payroll relief program would be enough to keep the airline industry afloat as the country continues to bounce back from the shutdown.

The administration had also implemented a lay-off ban, which started in March and would expire on October 1 in hopes that they could provide a solution before thousands of Americans would lose their job. While the airline industry gradually bounces back, the recorded passenger volume was still 70 percent lower than what the industry had before the coronavirus pandemic. With this massive effect on airline sales, American Airlines would have to make the tough decision of laying off thousands of their workers, without the promised payroll relief program.

While the company had to lay-off their employees, American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker still hoped that Congress could come together to approve the coronavirus relief deal. Parker hoped that he could still re-employ those that were laid off if the deal became final. “I informed the Secretary that if these efforts to extend PSP are successful over the next few days, we will reverse our furlough processes and recall any impacted team members,” the airline executive said. Other companies such as United had also made a similar announcement to lay-off more than 13,000 employees if the government failed to push through with the deal.

Unfortunately, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said his talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was futile. Mnuchin claimed that the Democrat refused to concede and reach an agreement. In fact, political analysts believe that the House Democrats might be using the power of the purse to take away any leverage that President Donald Trump could use in the upcoming 2020 general elections. They believed that by providing Trump with an economic boost would provide him with an advantage in the elections.

The problem is that Democrats continue to push for a $2.2 trillion relief package while Republicans wanted a more conservative approach when it comes to federal spending. In fact, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell described the proposal as “outlandish.” However, President Donald Trump would rather choose the higher-priced proposal, than to have no relief program at all.

The only good news is that Mnuchin confirmed that the Democrats have agreed to include a new round of stimulus checks for American households. He noted that the new stimulus check would be similar to the previous relief program. This meant that those who had received a direct cash payment are more likely to avail in the next round.