The White House and Senate leaders reached a breakthrough deal shortly after midnight Wednesday on a massive $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, Fox News has confirmed, capping off days of heated negotiations that had nearly been derailed by last-minute demands from House Democrats.
“Ladies and gentleman, we are done," White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland announced as he left the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., near midnight. "We have a deal."
Ueland said that "much of the work on bill text has been completed and I’m hopeful over the next few hours we’ll finish what's left and we will circulate it early in the morning.” Concerning any outstanding issues, he said "we have either clear, explicit legislative text, reflecting all parties, or we know exactly where we're going to land without a legislative text, as we continue to finish.”
McConnell was set to announce the deal on the Senate floor early Wednesday morning. Fox News is told text for the bill is expected Wednesday morning, with a likely Senate vote on Wednesday.
The deal came hours after President Trump's top economic adviser said an unprecedented $6 trillion stimulus plan was imminent, including $4 trillion in liquidity from the Federal Reserve and $2 trillion in new money from Congress.
Tensions then abruptly ratcheted back up again on Capitol Hill Tuesday night -- with Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Steve Daines taking to the Senate floor and calling for an end to negotiations because, as Graham put it, Democrats were "nickel-and-diming at a time when people are dying -- literally dying."
"Ladies and gentleman, we are done. We have a deal."
— White House legislative affairs director Eric Ueland
Graham and Daines' late-night push for an immediate vote on a stimulus bill came after tensions seemingly had cooled in Congress during the day, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its highest point gain in its history as leaders from both parties signaled that an agreement could be within reach.
Shares advanced in Asia on Wednesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to its best day since 1933 as Congress and the White House neared a deal. Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 5.3 percent, while Hong Kong added 3 percent and Sydney climbed 3.6 percent. Markets across Asia were all up more than 2 percent.
But, the Republicans said late Tuesday, Democrats were still seeking last-minute payouts that were delaying a vote on a final bill.
"In case you're watching," Graham said in reference to the president, his voice rising, "tell [Treasury Secretary] Steven Mnuchin to come back to the White House and end negotiations. I think I understand the give-and-take of life and politics, but I've been called by two good friends on the Democratic side in the last five or six hours wanting more money. End the negotiations."
He added: "This bill is $2 trillion. There's a ton of money in this bill for people who need it, but what we're doing now is, every special-interest group in town is trying to get a little bit more."
“Listen, we were told we are at the one-yard line last night to get this done," Daines, who led the colloquy with Graham, said from the Senate floor. "All I’ve got to say is, the Senate may think it’s at the one-yard line right now, but Montanans are getting sacked. In fact, our unemployment claims in Montana since march 17th, we just looked it up 15 minutes ago, 14,350 Montanans have filed for unemployment in the last week.”
Monday had been marked with furious debate on the Senate floor, as Republicans accused House Democrats of proposing an alternative stimulus bill that was full of unnecessary progressive wishlist items. Senate Democrats in the meantime repeatedly blocked the Republican stimulus bill, which would require 60 votes to survive.
WATCH DAINES' FULL SPEECH ON THE SENATE FLOOR
The bill offered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., included measures to restrict airlines' carbon emissions, protect illegal immigrants, provide for same-day voter registration, pay off billions in student loan debt, encourage federal agencies to employ "minority banks," bail out the U.S. Postal Service and even fund the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
"There is a whole concern in our country that if we're giving tens of billions of dollars to the airlines, that we could at least have a shared value about what happens to the environment," Pelosi said Tuesday.
Republicans, including the president, have called the measures irrelevant "nonsense" and total nonstarters. After Democrats signaled they might be willing to negotiate away some of their proposals, though, the Dow surged and lawmakers appeared optimistic.
Democrats have argued the GOP package would do too much for large corporations and not enough for workers, and inaccurately suggested that the treasury secretary would have unilateral control over a massive "slush fund."
"This is ridiculous," Graham continued Tuesday night. "Steven Mnuchin has done a good job. I appreciate his efforts to negotiate a bill that will help America. Senator [Mitch] McConnell says we're on the two-yard line. I believe the problem is that there are 20 people playing defense, and we need to take some people off the field. What bothers me is that at that late hour, I'm still getting calls from people wanting more money."
WHAT'S IN PELOSI'S CORONAVIRUS BILL? ARTS FUNDING, CLIMATE CHANGE WISHLIST, AND MORE
"I have lost my patience with the political process," Graham added. "We're being nickel-and-dimed now. The big stuff we've got pretty well right, and if it's not perfect, we can fix it later. But, we need to vote tonight, and the reason I'm on the floor is because I've been called by two Democratic colleagues in the last five or six hours wanting more money. The store is closed. Mr. President, end negotiations. Require us to vote. Draft the bill, do it tonight."
President Trump with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a briefing at the White House on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Trump with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during a briefing at the White House on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Graham and Daines' frustration was matched by many of his colleagues. Louisiana GOP Sen. John Kennedy told Fox News' Sean Hannity late Tuesday that while the coronavirus "can kill you," so can "hunger." He charged Pelosi had demolished a Senate compromise bill with her own legislation.
Barring anything else, the Senate has a lingering cloture petition which will automatically ripen for a vote, by rule, one hour after the Senate meets Wednesday. That is a third procedural vote to actually start debate on the bill. They would need 60 votes. But, it’s likely that vote is postponed or thrown out if there is an agreement. The Senate would probably skip directly to the vote to pass the bill or some other arrangement.
Sources are indicating to Fox News that after a Wednesday vote in the Senate, there will be a Thursday or Friday vote in the House. That process might involve a voice vote with a skeleton crew, essentially requiring unanimous consent -- meaning just one House member could kill the vote.
WATCH: TRUMP SAYS CORONAVIRUS SHUTDOWN MAY BE OVER BY EASTER
Shortly before Graham spoke, Trump declared at a coronovirus task force briefing that the country was nearing "the end of our historic battle" with "the invisible enemy" of coronavirus. Trump's approval numbers hit their highest point ever this week, with 60 percent of Americans approving of his coronavirus response efforts.
The president also sounded an unexpectedly magnanimous note: "I also want to thank Congress, because whether or not we're happy that they haven't quite gotten there yet, they have been working long hours. I'm talking Republicans and Democrats, all of them, the House, the Senate. I want to thank Congress because they are really trying to get there, and I think they will."
DEMS FUME AS TRUMP SAYS COUNTRY MAY BE REOPENED BY EASTER
Then, Director of the U.S. National Economic Council Larry Kudlow specifically said the new coronavirus bill working its way through congressional gridlock would total $6 trillion: $4 trillion in liquidity from the Federal Reserve and $2 trillion in new money. Typical annual appropriations from Congress in a given fiscal year are around $1.2-4 trillion, with total expenditures roughly $4.3 trillion.
“This package will be the single largest Main Street assistance program in the history of the United States,” Kudlow said, adding that negotiations would continue into the evening but that a vote was imminent.
Meanwhile, there was some good news inside the White House grounds. As the briefing concluded, White House press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, who has been quarantined since coming in contact with Brazilian officials almost two weeks ago and working from home, revealed she has received negative COVID-19 test results and will be back to work Wednesday.
Grisham will return as the Trump administration increasingly has sought to project optimism. The president, who tweeted Sunday that "WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF," declared at the Fox News virtual town hall that he "would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter."
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, center, on his way to the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, center, on his way to the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Pressed by Fox News' John Roberts on the timeline, Trump said at the briefing: "We'll be looking at a lot of things -- we'll also be looking at very large portions of our country, but I'll be guided very much by Dr. [Anthony] Fauci, and by Deborah [Birx]."
Fauci, the longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whose absence from recent coronavirus briefings triggered a wave of speculation in the media, said the timeline was still "flexible."
Democrats have reacted furiously to Trump's new timeline for relaxing economic restrictions, with Hillary Clinton suggesting people would "needlessly die," and Joe Biden accusing Trump of spreading "misinformation."
"This a--hole and his rich friends are too stupid to get that we can only get through this together," former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau wrote. "Everyone is at risk from the virus. Everyone suffers when there aren’t enough hospital beds. Everyone struggles when millions are too sick to work."
Fellow Obama communications alum Tommy Vietor, meanwhile, deleted a tweet lamenting that he was reduced to drinking red wine in the shower during the economic shutdown.
MORE HERE: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/senate-coronavirus-stimulus-bill-lindsey-graham-democrats-vote
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