Senate Republicans are expected to present the long-awaited, $1 trillion stimulus package, called CARES 2, on Monday. The package was initially scheduled to be unveiled last week, though those plans were delayed due to ongoing discussions with the White House. It will now be unveiled on Monday by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and eight of his fellow Senators – Chairmen Chuck Grassley, Lamar Alexander, Susan Collins, Marco Rubio, Richard Shelby, and Roy Blunt, and Senators John Cornyn and Mitt Romney.
Addressing the package, as well as its delay, on Thursday, McConnell said that “we will be laying down this proposal early next week,” explaining that Republicans “have an agreement in principle on the shape of this package.” In his address, McConnell, for the first time, named the proposal, calling it CARES 2. He said that “it is the framework that will enable Congress to make law and deliver more relief to the American people that is tailored precisely to this phase of the crisis.” He went on to add that “the sum of these efforts will be a strong, targeted piece of legislation aimed directly at the challenges we face right now.”
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In his address, McConnell said that Grassley will introduce the aspects of the proposal that deal with jobs and the economy. This will include the second round of $1,200 stimulus checks, which are believed to hold the same legibility standards as the first round, as well as the next round of federal unemployment benefits. The $600 per week enhanced unemployment benefit has long been criticized by Republicans and is believed to be a sticking point in negotiations. McConnell confirmed that Republicans “intend to continue some temporary federal supplement to unemployment insurance.”
Rubio and Collins, meanwhile, will present a “sequel” to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), with Alexander, Blunt, and Shelbey expected to present an “ambitious” package regarding funding for schools and universities. McConnell said that this aspect of the legislation will be “north of $100,000.” Romney will introduce a “bipartisan bill… to help a future Congress evaluate bipartisan proposals for protecting and strengthening the programs that Americans count on.”
According to CBS This Morning, this is a narrow piece of legislation, with Republicans hoping to return to cover other issues, though Democrats will likely not agree with this. The package will likely face much disagreement from Democrats, prompting negotiations, which will begin after the bill is formally introduced. There will then be less than two weeks for those negotiations to conclude and for the bill to be passed in both the House and the Senate before Congress enters another recess that lasts until September.
