Lawmakers Race to Finish $900 Billion Virus Aid Package

The White House also pushed for a deal.

President Trump is “adamant on delivering relief to workers, families, and small businesses before the holidays,” White House spokesman Ben Williamson said Thursday morning. “Conversations with Capitol Hill leaders are ongoing and we’re optimistic we can reach an agreement within the next 24 to 48 hours,” he said.

As Covid-19 cases continue to increase across the country, nearly 900,000 people applied for jobless benefits last week, in another sign that the economic recovery is slowing down. Forms of unemployment assistance and other relief measures will expire in the coming weeks without Congressional action.

Negotiations continued Thursday after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) spoke late Wednesday night.

“We made some progress this morning, and waiting to hear back,” Mrs. Pelosi said Thursday.

As of Wednesday, lawmakers were still discussing the duration of a $300 weekly boost to unemployment benefits and whether to include $90 billion in emergency aid for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to people familiar with the talks.

But negotiations on a long-discussed relief package eased this week when Republicans and Democrats dropped the two most contentious issues from the proposed package: aid for state and local governments and enhanced liability protections for businesses, schools, and health-care providers. The two parties had quarreled for months over the issues, and a bipartisan group of rank-and-file members were unable to reach a compromise on liability protections.

Many Republicans had been skeptical of providing more money to state and local governments, who faced fiscal challenges during the pandemic, while Democrats had opposed making it harder for people to sue businesses or employers if they contracted Covid-19.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) proposed shedding the two topics from the current aid bill, dropping his insistence on including liability protections in an aid package. While Democrats initially rejected the trade-off, the aid package lawmakers are aiming to soon complete will exclude both state and local aid. A person familiar with the talks said the package would provide some aid to state and local governments through other avenues.

At roughly $900 billion, the current aid package falls between what the two parties had previously proposed. Republicans had favored a roughly $500 billion package for much of the fall, while Democrats have pushed for a $2.4 trillion package. In negotiations before the election, the Trump administration had proposed a $1.8 trillion package, though many Senate Republicans had opposed spending at that level.

Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R., S.D.) said Wednesday that the package will include a direct check that will likely be worth $600 to $700, a decrease from the $1,200 check sent to many Americans earlier this year.

If lawmakers can’t soon finish a relief bill, Congress may have to approve another short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown this weekend.

“We are facing the prospect of another continuing resolution. I pray that we don’t do that,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D., Ill.).

—Catherine Lucey contributed to this article.

Write to Andrew Duehren at [email protected] and Kristina Peterson at [email protected]