Nancy Pelosi says Mitch McConnell agreed to attach coronavirus relief to upcoming spending bill
SalonHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced on Friday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had agreed to combine this year's annual omnibus spending bill with a coronavirus relief package, offering hope that stimulus for Americans economically suffering during the pandemic may be on its way. One day after the bill was first unveiled on Tuesday, Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., released a joint statement saying they supported using that measure as a starting point for bipartisan talks on ultimately getting relief passed, and urged McConnell to do so as well. There are a lot of details that Democrats and Republicans will have to work out before any final relief measure is passed, and government funding runs out next week, Congress may need to pass a brief stopgap spending bill in order to buy themselves enough time to develop an omnibus spending bill and coronavirus relief package that can pass both chambers of Congress. It also includes $500 for every child in the household of eligible families, expanded the eligibility criteria for unemployment relief, extended benefits by 13 weeks, increased maximum unemployment benefits by $600 per week, provided $500 billion in relief for corporations, gave $350 billion in relief to small businesses and allocated $100 billion in assistance for hospitals.