Democrats release new $2.2trillion COVID package including second round of stimulus checks

The Democrats on Monday released a new $2.2trillion COVID package, including a second round of stimulus checks, $600 in extra unemployment and $436billion for state and local governments.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Monday; the two agreed to speak again Tuesday. 

The scaled back package will ‘protect lives, livelihoods, and the life of our democracy over the coming months’  Pelosi told her fellow Democrats. 

In a statement she said: ‘It has been more than four months since House Democrats sent the GOP Senate $3.4 trillion in desperately needed coronavirus relief grounded in science and data, and Leader McConnell hit the pause button.

‘In our negotiations with the White House since then, Democrats offered to come down a trillion dollars if Republicans would come up a trillion dollars. Then, we offered to come down $200 billion more, even as the health and economic crisis has worsened and the needs have only grown.’ 

Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, tweeted: ‘Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Mnuchin spoke at 6:30 p.m. tonight via phone after House Democrats introduced an updated version of the Heroes Act. The two agreed to speak again tomorrow morning.’