Deal Reached on $2 Trillion Stimulus Package

“Senate leaders and the Trump administration clinched a bipartisan deal early Wednesday morning on a nearly $2 trillion emergency relief package in response to the coronavirus pandemic, a move intended to assist businesses and millions of Americans amid an unprecedented halt in the U.S. economy,” Politico reports.

“The announcement, which came around 1 a.m., capped five days of tense, marathon talks.”

New York Times: “In the final measure, lawmakers agreed to a significant expansion of unemployment benefits that would extend unemployment insurance by 13 weeks and include a four-month enhancement of benefits, officials familiar with the unfinished agreement said. Democrats said that it would allow workers to maintain their full salaries if forced out of work as a result of the pandemic.”

Washington Post: “The delay in finalizing a deal came, in part, because aides launched a painstaking scrub of the bill’s text, to make sure that one of the most ambitious pieces of legislation ever attempted by Congress — thrown together in little over a week — actually said what lawmakers wanted it to say.”