US Congress reaches deal on USD 900 billion coronavirus rescue package

The United States legislators have agreed on a long-awaited Covid-19 bill of around USD 900 billion, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Sunday.

"As the American people continue battling the coronavirus this holiday season, they will not be on their own. Congress has just reached an agreement. We will pass another rescue package ASAP. More help is on the way," McConnell said on Twitter on Sunday.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer confirmed that they have reached an agreement on the new bipartisan emergency coronavirus relief and omnibus package on Sunday.

"After weeks of intense negotiation, we've reached an agreement on an emergency #COVIDrelief package. It will deliver emergency relief to a nation in the throes of a genuine emergency. We must make the law as soon as possible. And then we need to do even more under President Biden," Schumer said on Twitter.

In March, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act paving the way for the release of USD 3 trillion as paycheck protection for workers, loans and grants for businesses and other personal aid for qualifying citizens and residents, Sputnik reported.

In the past few months, however, Democrats and Republicans were locked in a bitter disagreement about a successive relief plan to the CARES Act.

The stalemate was broken at the start of December when a bipartisan group of Democrats and Republicans proposed a USD 908 billion relief bill, which prompted the two sides to resume negotiations.

Earlier this month, the bipartisan group proposed to split that USD 908 billion packages into two. The first one will be a USD 748 billion bill with new unemployment benefits, small business aid, and other programs that have received broad support from both sides, and a second USD 160 billion bill of highly-contested liability protections for firms and aid for state and local governments.

(ANI)

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