Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said this morning an agreement has been reached on major elements of a nearly $500 billion coronavirus aid package for small businesses, including additional help for hospitals and virus testing.
Schumer said post-midnight talks among Democratic and Republican leaders, along with Trump administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, produced a breakthrough agreement on the package.
“We have a deal and I think we’ll pass it today,” Schumer said on CNN. He cautioned that staff are still “dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s.”
A Senate session this afternoon could provide an opportunity to quickly pass the legislation if it comes together quickly, though the Democratic-controlled House is planning on calling lawmakers to Washington for a vote later in the week.
A senior Senate GOP leadership aide cautioned that the measure is not finalized and that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has yet to publicly sign off on it.
Schumer said that Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were in close contact with McConnell during the endgame talks.
“Every major issue was resolved,” Schumer said. “So yes, I believe we have a deal.”
Most of the funding, more than $300 billion, would go to boost a small-business payroll loan program that ran out of money last week. Additional help would be given to hospitals, and billions more would be spent to boost testing for the virus, a key step in building the confidence required to reopen state economies.
The emerging draft measure—originally designed by Republicans as a $250 billion stopgap to replenish the payroll subsidies for smaller businesses—has grown into the second largest of the four coronavirus response bills so far. Democratic demands have caused the measure to balloon, though they likely will be denied the money they want to help struggling state and local governments. Read the full story.
