Congressional Leaders Feel Optimistic About Coronavirus Relief Talks

Top congressional leaders are feeling optimistic about reaching a bipartisan coronavirus relief deal. Lawmakers are facing a Friday deadline for passing a spending bill that will hopefully avoid a government shutdown and provide Covid relief to people and small businesses nationwide. Two bills were proposed earlier this week which included one with liability protections for state and local funding and one without. Yesterday, after a long day of negotiations, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell assured they would not leave Washington, even for the holidays, until some sort of package was passed. This appears to be a sentiment supported by both sides. While Republicans want to wait until 2021 to tackle the more “divisive issues” of coronavirus relief, McConnell remains hopeful about this week’s tight deadline, adding they’re getting “closer and closer” to an agreement with Democrats. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated similar positive statements. Discussions on Capitol Hill resumed early today.