Tag: economic relief bill

GOP senators strike deal to allow stimulus to pass Wednesday night

The Hill logoA group of Republican senators has struck a deal with leaders to allow the $2 trillion economic relief package to pass the Senate on Wednesday evening.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) have agreed to drop procedural objections and let the bill move on a fast track in exchange for a vote on an amendment to the package to cap beefed-up unemployment benefits at 100 percent of workers’ salaries.

Their amendment will need 60 votes to pass, and it’s expected to fail, setting the stage for final passage of the mammoth coronavirus stimulus package later Wednesday evening.  Continue reading.

How the $2 trillion deal came together — and nearly fell apart

Inside McConnell, Schumer and Mnuchin’s race to rescue the economy.

It was going to cost $1 trillion.

Late on March 16, five days after the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic, Larry Kudlow — the one-time cable news talker turned top economic advisor to President Donald Trump — was in the Senate’s historic Mansfield room, telling a group of senior GOP senators something they didn’t want to hear.

The U.S. economy was going to need a lot of help — and fast. Americans faced dire consequences if Congress didn’t act quickly, warned Kudlow, alongside Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought and White House Legislative Affairs Director Eric Ueland. The senators were stunned and dismayed. Continue reading.