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US President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are reportedly expected to back a proposed COVID-19 relief bill. But, it won’t include $1,200 in direct payments to most Americans. A Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said, “President Trump has indicated that he would sign a $908 billion package. There is only one $908 billion package out there and it’s ours. The pain of the American people is driving this, and I’m optimistic that both those leaders will come on board”. Legislators from both parties were closing in on the final language. It would provide roughly $300 in extra federal weekly unemployment benefits and leaving the issue of cash payments for President-elect Joe Biden to wrestle over with a new Congress next year.

The package would be attached to a larger year-end spending bill needed to prevent a government shutdown this coming weekend. The direct payments were popular when they were distributed after the first wave of the pandemic. On Friday, Biden expressed hope that a second wave might come after weekend negotiations. But Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and others said it could cause them to oppose the measure. The 2^nd ranking Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois indicated that excluding the checks while assuring small-business aid and renters’ assistance was the only way to reach an agreement with Republicans who are putting firm limits on the bill’s final price tag. He said, “The $1,200 check, it cost we believe nationally $300 billion, to give you an idea”.

Durbin added, “The Democrats have always wanted a larger number, but we were told we couldn’t get anything through the Republicans, except this $900 billion level”. Cassidy said a new round of direct checks may be a go at some point. He said, “This is not a stimulus bill, it’s a relief bill. And it’s something for the next 3 to 4 months to help those in greatest need”. The supposed proposal is expected to include $300 per week in bonus federal unemployment payments. It will provide a relief just as emergency aid payments at regular benefit levels are set to expire at year’s end. Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said last week they wouldn’t support the $908 billion proposal if it didn’t include checks for families.