Congress says stimulus deal almost ready

WASHINGTON—Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said just before noon on Tuesday that negotiators likely will agree on an economic relief package in the next few hours. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin met with Schumer six times on Monday and was at the Capitol again on Tuesday to hammer out a bill designed to ease economic stress during the coronavirus outbreak. The proposal, with a price tag of almost $2 trillion, failed a second time in the Senate on Monday.

What held it up? Democrats said the bill did not do enough to help workers. They wanted to give more bargaining power to unions and include emission standards for airlines, among other legislative priorities with loose ties to the crisis. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., unveiled her own version of an economic recovery package on Monday afternoon. President Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday that enough was enough: “Congress must approve the deal, without all of the nonsense, today. The longer it takes, the harder it will be to start up our economy. Our workers will be hurt!”

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Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.