Yahoo Finance’s Jess Smith joins the On The Move panel to discuss how the White House is responding to the coronavirus as Democrats propose new stimulus plan.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: At least some of the rally that we're seeing overall today looks like it has to do with hopes for a stimulus package. Let's go to our Jessica Smith now, who is in Washington, DC, which has also, by the way, just announced all non-essential businesses there will be closing. But, Jess, what's the latest on the stimulus package? We keep getting football analogies. I think we're, what, on the 2-yard line now?

JESSICA SMITH: Right. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that they are on the 2-yard line. Hours earlier, Mitch McConnell had said they were on the 5-yard line. So 3 yards of progress so far. But we are getting close to a deal, according to everyone who is involved in these negotiations.

We heard from Mnuchin saying they are close. Speaker Pelosi also said she was optimistic something would get done today. Schumer and Mnuchin just left a meeting, and Schumer says that he does not see any outstanding issues that cannot be overcome in the next few hours. So we'll be looking for this final bill and any timing on when they could vote on it.

We know one of the issues that Democrats have really been looking at is that $500 billion that is going to go to certain industries that have been hit hard by the virus. Democrats have been pushing for more oversight. Pelosi and Schumer says that they are working for an inspector general to oversee those funds and then a congressional panel as well. So we'll be looking for more details on that, but Pelosi seemed to be optimistic about the changes that Senate Democrats have hoped for.

And getting Pelosi's support is really critical here because the House is not in Washington, DC. House members are spread across the country in their districts. And once the Senate passes this package, they could vote on it a couple of ways. One way, the quickest, would be to do this by unanimous consent, but everyone would have to be on board. That would only require two people to actually be in the Capitol here in DC, but everybody has to be on board. Otherwise, they'd have to come back to DC, either look at the Senate package or take up the House bill that Speaker Pelosi announced yesterday. So we'll be sure to keep you updated on how this shakes out over the next couple of hours.