"Last night, they’ve agreed to sit down and the staffs are going to sit down today or tomorrow to try to begin to see if we can get a real good COVID relief bill," Schumer told a news conference on Thursday.
In March, Democrats and Republicans agreed to pass the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The measure provided some $3 trillion in cash payouts to citizens, as well as grants and loans to US businesses and paycheck protection to those who qualify.
Since that time, Democrats and Republicans have been locked in a stalemate on successive packages to the CARES Act, disagreeing on the size of the next relief package, to the detriment of Americans desperately in need of aid amid the economic blowback of lockdowns resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
The US economy shrank 5 percent in the first quarter and 31.4 percent in the subsequent three months, to hand the United States its worst recession ever, amid lockdowns and other restrictive measures. The economy rebounded 33.1 percent in the third quarter, however after many businesses reopened in May.
Recent spikes in coronavirus cases have prompted several states to implement a new round of lockdowns and health measures.
