WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic leaders on Wednesday lashed out at the Trump administration for refusing to budge on their position on the size and scope of the next COVID-19 relief package, as the two sides remain deadlocked over the issue.

"Democrats have compromised," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement, reiterating Democrats are willing to come down 1 trillion U.S. dollars if the Trump administration will come up 1 trillion dollars.

"However, it is clear that the Administration still does not grasp the magnitude of the problems that American families are facing," Pelosi and Schumer said.

The Democratic leaders' statement came after a conversation with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin earlier in the day.

"An overture was made by Secretary Mnuchin to meet and he made clear that his televised comments from earlier today still stand: the White House is not budging from their position concerning the size and scope of a legislative package," Pelosi and Schumer said.

Mnuchin, however, rebutted the criticism shortly after. In a statement, the treasury secretary said the Democratic leaders' statement is not an accurate reflection of the phone conversation he had with Pelosi earlier in the day.

"She (Pelosi) made clear that she was unwilling to meet to continue negotiations unless we agreed in advance to her proposal, costing at least 2 trillion dollars," Mnuchin said. "The Democrats have no interest in negotiating."

House Democrats unveiled a 3-trillion-dollar relief proposal in May, but didn't gain support from the Republicans. Senate Republicans released their 1-trillion-dollar proposal in late July, just a few days before the extra 600-dollar weekly unemployment benefits expired.

Negotiations between Democratic leaders and White House officials collapsed last week, with both sides blaming each other for making little progress on the much-needed relief package.

As negotiations stall, U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday signed a series of executive orders to extend certain COVID-19 economic relief, but they are unlikely to provide a meaningful boost to the overall economy.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday urged the White House and Democratic lawmakers to restart negotiations on the relief bill, saying that "it's time to sit down and get a deal done."

The Senate Republicans' 1-trillion-dollar relief proposal would slash the federal benefits to 200 dollars through September, and then give an unemployed worker about 70 percent of previous wages when combined with state benefits, while Democrats want to maintain the 600-dollar benefits through January.

Another sticking point in the negotiation is direct aid to states and cities, as Democrats proposed a 1-trillion-dollar aid for struggling state and local governments in their previously unveiled 3-trillion-dollar relief proposal, while Republicans planned to offer no new money.

Economists have warned that the U.S. economy is at serious risk of sliding back into recession if the White House and Congress couldn't reach a deal on another fiscal rescue package in the coming months.

"The surge in job losses earlier this year has led to a rise in late or missed rent and mortgage payments. Delinquencies will likely rise even further if some sort of deal cannot be worked out to extend supplemental unemployment benefits," Wells Fargo Securities Economics Group said in a report Wednesday.

"Failure to reach a deal on more stimulus would have wide ranging impact on the economy," the report warned. Enditem

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