
Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Saturday detailed a $500 billion “skinny” coronavirus relief bill that he said the Senate will vote on this Wednesday.
The bill, far more targeted than the White House’s $1.8 trillion relief measure, will expand federal unemployment benefits, replenish the Paycheck Protection Program, provide over $100 billion to schools and fund vaccine production and distribution as well as testing and tracing.
McConnell said that barring any obstruction from Democrats, the Senate would vote on the measure before turning to vote on Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
He’d need 60 votes to move the bill through the Senate. Democrats previously blocked a similar bill.
The White House offered $1.8 trillion for coronavirus relief, the closest an offer has been to the House’s trimmed $2.2 trillion bill, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected it. “Working families have spent months waiting for Speaker Pelosi’s Marie Antoinette act to stop,” the Kentucky Republican said in a statement.