Senate Assures to Deliver Relief Aid Before Leaving the House

By Neil P. First Posted: Dec 16, 2020 11:30 PM EST

Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that the House of Senate will not leave until a new relief bill will be passed.

(Photo : Nicholas Kamm-Pool/Getty Images)
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) arrives with Sen. John Thune (R-SD) at a news conference with other Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol.

After months of failed negotiations, both parties from the House of Senate and Congress have finally come up to an agreement not to leave the House until a new relief bill is passed. This time, the bill includes direct stimulus checks as an initial aid.

McConnell to support relief bill with stimulus package

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that members of the House of Senate will not leave Washington until a relief bill is passed. This is a good sign that the Republican and Democratic Senators have come to an agreement.

According to NBC News, McConnell said that he will support the relief bill that targets the most important needs of millions of struggling Americans.

He also added that he will also support waiting until next year to talk about the most divisive issues to reach a larger deal.

"We're not leaving, I assure you. We're not leaving until we finish this package," he said, while lawmakers try to hammer out an agreement on or before the deadline on Friday to keep the government-funded.

Both parties hope to attach the relief aid to the government funding bill.

To reach an agreement, McConnell said that he supports the idea of dropping two most contentious items for the meantime. These are the liability protections for the businesses that remain open during the pandemic and funding for state and local governments.

These measures have stalled the relief aid negotiations for months and have prevented Congress from passing any meaningful COVID-19. However, McConnell believes that there is still another time under the new administration to discuss these measures.

New Relief Bill Includes Stimulus Checks

McConnell said on Wednesday that lawmakers made significant progress in reaching a targeted relief package.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer also said, "As we race the clock to reach a final accord before the end of the year, we are close to an agreement. It's not a done deal yet. But we are very close."

According to Yahoo News, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell welcomed the progress and development of the relief aid negotiation. Powell said, "Clearly there's going to be a need for help there, and my sense and hope is that we'll be getting that."

The new relief package is based largely on a $748-billion relief bill that a bipartisan group of Senate and House moderates unveiled Monday as a compromise, with the addition of the new round of stimulus checks.

President-elect Joe Biden released a statement claiming there will be direct cash payments to be distributed via down payments.