The House of Representatives is set to vote tonight on a new $2.2 trillion stimulus bill as both parties continue to negotiate to come up with an agreement over the next relief package.

Steven Mnuchin
Reutersconnect

The negotiations between Treasury Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi started on Wednesday night and they are expected to have another talk tonight.

President Donald Trump has already instructed his top negotiators, including Mnuchin, to come up significantly from the $1 trillion stimulus deal they had been working on. It can be remembered that Trump called for bigger stimulus checks and was pushing Republicans to embrace a larger amount.

Tonight's vote will be on the House's amended HEROES Act. Here's what you can get on the new stimulus aid that Congress will be voting at, according to Forbes:

  • Another round of $1,200 stimulus checks.
  • Federal enhanced unemployment benefits of $600 per week.
  • Additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program for small business relief.
  • Billions of dollars for K-12 schools, postsecondary schools, and childcare.
  • $75 billion for public health initiatives including coronavirus testing.
  • Economic relief for states and cities.
  • An extension of the suspension of student loan payments, interest, and collections to September 2021, and an expansion of that suspension to all federal student loans, including those issued by commercial lending entities.

If the bill passes the Congress tonight, its chances to pass in the Senate is very low. However, there is still a possibility that it could be approved in the Republican-dominated Senate if Trump will urge the GOP members to embrace the stimulus package.

The two top priorities of the House is to send direct stimulus checks and PPP loans for businesses. These two were the relief measures that Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powel emphasized when they testified before Congress.

Other than those two relief measures, the Republican lawmakers also wanted to continue the unemployment benefits, to provide $10 billion for child-care support, and to forgive the $10 billion loan of the U.S. Postal Service under the CARES Act. The GOP bill also included the controversial liability shield to protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits.

Even though the next round of stimulus checks was not included in the previous GOP stimulus proposal, Trump has urged Congress to release the $300 billion unspent budget from the CARES Act and send it as stimulus checks to over 160 million Americans across the country.

The Trump administration is also considering issuing a series of executive orders for PPP loans, stimulus checks, and other relief measures if lawmakers fail to reach a final deal. The White House has already confirmed that it has billions of dollars left that they intend to release to the people.

There are also speculations that the White House is preparing something that will benefit millions of Americans in case an agreement on coronavirus stimulus is not reached.

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