House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is seeking to move another coronavirus relief package costing roughly $2.2 trillion, which is less than the $3.5 trillion relief package that House Democrats passed in May but died in the Senate.
A vote on the scaled-back package could occur before the House adjourns for the election on Oct. 2, according to the Hill.
Pelosi, a California Democrat, has tasked committee heads with drafting the legislation, which is expected to include aid to airlines, restaurants, and other industries that are suffering because of the pandemic, according to the Wall Street Journal.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, is expected to take the lead on crafting the bill. He said the bill would likely contain the same provisions from the legislation passed in May, but provisions would last over a shorter period of time.
Pelosi’s pursuit of moving another bill comes as some House Democrats have threatened to back a plan by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, a Washington Republican, that would force a floor vote on a plan allowing businesses another round of funding from the Paycheck Protection Program, according to the Hill.
A spokesperson for Herrera Beutler told the Washington Examiner that the congresswoman would present the bill to the floor on Friday. When asked if she had the votes needed to pass it, the spokesperson said that no official count would be conducted until it reaches the floor.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday that he and Pelosi recently spoke about moving another relief package.
“I think there are areas of support,” he said.
He also reiterated that President Trump supports providing aid to the airline industry.
The CARES Act enacted in March provided the airline industry $25 billion in aid as long as no workers are furloughed before Oct. 1. With that deadline just one week away and additional funding needed, roughly 35,000 airline jobs are currently at risk.
Mnuchin told the committee that the CARES Act “literally saved the entire industry.”
The airline executives asked for an additional $25 billion in aid, which would be expected to keep workers employed through March 2021.
