- Democratic Sen.
Mark Warner signaled the prospect of a complete coronavirus package to come soon in an interview on ABC's "This Week" Sunday morning. - "The great news is Congress is not going to be the Grinch, we're going to get this package done," the Virginia senator said.
- Following a prolonged back and forth exchange, Democrats and Republicans in Congress most recently reportedly reached a compromise on the latest sticking point on the Federal Reserve's lending powers on late Saturday evening.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner signaled hope for progress in the
"The great news is Congress is not going to be the Grinch, we're going to get this package done," the Virginia senator said in an interview on ABC's "This Week" Sunday morning. "So folks who are going to run out of unemployment the day after Christmas or potentially get kicked out of their apartment or those long lines at the food banks, help is on the way."
Following a prolonged back and forth exchange between lawmakers in Congress, Republicans and Democrats reportedly were in talks of a consensus on a $900 billion
But the coronavirus relief package faced a roadblock when Republican Sen. Pat Toomey's proposal last Thursday called to limit on the Federal Reserve's lending programs which drew strong pushback from Democrats over concerns that it would harm the incoming Biden-Harris administration's capability to recover the economy, Business Insider's Tom Porter reported.
"It would undermine confidence in our ability to respond to economic shocks and set a troubling precedent that erodes the independence of our central bank," Warner told the Financial Times.
But lawmakers on both parties reached a compromise on this sticking point late Saturday evening, signaling that Congress may be nearing a consensus on a coronavirus relief deal shortly, Zeballos-Roig reported.
"I was glad to see that Sen. Toomey accepted Sen. Schumer's offer on a compromise," Warner told host George Stephanopoulos on "This Week."
Even so, the reported latest proposal for a coronavirus package has drawn significant criticism. The reported amount for a stimulus check is currently around $600, roughly half of what Americans received in the first round of stimulus checks given out in the spring. Progressive Democrats have criticized the insufficiency of these amounts: As Zeballos-Roig reported, a group of 17 lawmakers wrote a letter last week calling for Congress to include $2,000 stimulus checks in the package.
—This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 20, 2020
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- A weekend stimulus deal just got more likely after Republicans and Democrats resolved their clash over the Federal Reserve
- Here's how Twitter users reacted to the prospect of $600 stimulus checks
- 'These are survival checks': Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley slammed $600 coronavirus stimulus checks as insufficient
- A group of 17 progressive Democrats is pushing for $2,000 stimulus checks to be in the next coronavirus relief package