The Senate will take up and pass a $2 trillion coronavirus emergency relief spending bill Wednesday, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced.
“Today, the Senate will act to help the people of this country weather this storm,” McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said in a floor speech.
Senate lawmakers, working across party lines and with the Trump administration, finalized an accord in the early morning hours that will likely pave the way for passage in both the House and Senate.
The bill will provide direct cash payments to individuals and families, small business grants, aid to states and healthcare facilities, and loans to big corporations.
“The Senate is going to stand together, act together, and pass this historic relief package today,” McConnell said. “Struggling Americans are going to go to their mailboxes and find four-figure checks to help them with their bills. Why? Because the Senate stepped up.”
McConnell hasn’t set a time for the vote.
Lawmakers in both chambers are reviewing the text of the massive bill, which will be the largest relief package ever considered in Congress.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, hopes to reach an agreement that would allow the House to pass the measure by voice vote to avoid summoning all 430 sitting members back to the chamber, which would further risk spreading the virus, particularly among many older lawmakers.
[Read more: ‘Unemployment compensation on steroids’: Relief package will boost benefits by $600 a week]
Pelosi said lawmakers were reviewing the text of the bill, which leaves out many of the provisions in a relief package she released earlier this week authored by House Democrats. She would not indicate when the House would vote on the measure.
“House Democrats will now review the final provisions and legislative text of the agreement to determine a course of action,” Pelosi said.
The agreement followed days of delay caused by Democrats who sought changes to the bill, including an extra month of unemployment insurance and oversight of the loan program for big companies.
Republicans criticized the delay and said Wednesday the changes could have been made without slowing down the bill.
“I will leave it to others to compare the bipartisan bill to the final version we will pass today and determine whether the last few changes really required or merited three days of delay in the face of this worsening crisis,” McConnell said.
