'Major headway' on COVID-19 aid bill -McConnell
"We need vaccine distribution money, we need to re-up the Paycheck Protection Program to save jobs, we need to continue to provide for laid-off Americans. Congressional leaders on both sides are going to keep working until we get this done," McConnell said on Wednesday.
U.S. congressional negotiators were "closing in on" a $900 billion COVID-19 aid bill that will include a new round of stimulus checks and extended unemployment benefits, lawmakers and congressional aides said.
One source familiar with the talks said the deal also focused on providing aid to state and local governments. But it was not clear what form such aid would take, since Republicans have resisted another round of direct payments to those entities.
"Other avenues" were being discussed to deliver such aid, the source said, without providing details. The aid bill is not expected to include new protections for companies and universities from lawsuits related to the pandemic, the source said.
Congressional leaders made substantial progress toward finalizing a new coronavirus aid plan during talks that stretched into the night on Tuesday. Facing a deadline to avert a government shutdown on Friday night, lawmakers also want to come up with some way to address the pandemic's heavy human and economic toll.
