Coronavirus Live Updates: White House and Congress Reach $2 Trillion Stimulus Deal

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin heading to meet Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in Washington on Tuesday.Credit...Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times

The legislation, which will send direct payments and jobless benefits to individuals, is the biggest economic stimulus package in modern American history.

RIGHT NOWTrump wants the U.S. “opened up” by Easter, as fleeing New Yorkers are urged to self-quarantine.

Senators and White House strike deal on stimulus package.

Rushing to deliver government aid amid a spiraling public health and economic crisis, senators and Trump administration officials reached an agreement early Wednesday on a sweeping, roughly $2 trillion stimulus measure.

The deal would send direct payments and jobless benefits to individuals, as well as money to states and businesses devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

The legislation, which is expected to be enacted within days, is the biggest economic stimulus package in modern American history, aimed at delivering critical financial support to businesses forced to shut their doors and relief to American families and hospitals reeling from the rapid spread of the disease and the resulting economic disruption.

Struck shortly before 1 a.m., it was the product of a marathon set of negotiations among Senate Republicans, Democrats and President Trump’s team that nearly fell apart as Democrats insisted upon stronger worker protections and oversight over a new $500 billion fund to bail out distressed businesses.

The deal was struck after a furious final round of haggling between Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, and Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, after Democrats twice blocked action on the measure as they insisted on concessions.

Mr. Mnuchin and Eric Ueland, the White House legislative affairs director, remained on Capitol Hill late into the evening Tuesday, shuttling between the Republican and Democratic leaders’ offices as they hammered out final details.

“We have a deal,” Mr. Ueland told reporters just before 1 a.m., adding that the text of the bill still needed to be completed. “We have either, clear, explicit legislative text reflecting all parties or we know exactly where we’re going to land on legislative text as we continue to finish.”

Reference: New York Times