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Trump Today: Trump meets with Senate Republicans as Washington considers next coronavirus aid package

President Donald Trump met with Senate Republicans on Tuesday, as Washington considers another round of aid to respond to the coronavirus pandemic but the GOP remains hesitant about quick action. Read More...

President Donald Trump met with Senate Republicans on Tuesday, as Washington considers another round of aid to respond to the coronavirus pandemic but the GOP remains hesitant about quick action.

Trump’s lunch meeting followed an earlier meeting held by Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Following the meeting with Trump, McConnell said he believes “we need to assess what we’ve already done, take a look at what worked and what didn’t, and we’ll discuss the way forward in the next couple of weeks.”

Last week, the Democratic-run House of Representatives approved its $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill. Analysts are saying it is likely that Trump will end up signing a new aid package into law next month or later following extensive negotiations.

Read:Next coronavirus aid package expected to become reality ‘in June at the earliest,’ as House passes its bill.

The Democrats’ bill calls for almost $1 trillion in additional aid for state and local governments, a second round of direct payments to American households and $200 billion for “hazard pay” for essential workers, among other items.

McConnell has consistently emphasized moving slower on the next round of aid. Congress has authorized $3.6 trillion in aid, according to a tracker from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a Washington-based organization.

The Trump administration has called for policies including a payroll-tax cut and limiting businesses’ liabilities in cases where a worker or customer gets the coronavirus.

Meeting with restaurant executives on Monday, Trump indicated he would support an extension of a deadline for spending small-business loans to 24 weeks from the current eight weeks, as states around the country were gradually opening up from lockdowns imposed amid the pandemic.

Now see:Restaurant executives press Trump for more time to spend small-business-loan funds.

Mnuchin testified alongside Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell about the $2.2 trillion relief measure passed by Congress two months ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.66% was off nearly 40 points after surging more than 900 points on Monday over hopes for a coronavirus vaccine.

Victor Reklaitis contributed to this article.

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