House Democrats are postponing the vote set for Wednesday night on their $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package, giving negotiators a bit more time to try to hammer out a deal.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office sent out an updated vote alert, notifying members that “that further consideration of the updated Heroes Act could occur as early as tomorrow.”
The House will continue with a procedural vote for the bill Wednesday.
The news comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin spent over an hour Wednesday afternoon negotiating on a bipartisan comprehensive COVID-19 relief deal.
“We made a lot of progress over the last few days, we still don’t have an agreement, but we have more work to do. And we’re gonna see where we end up,” Mr. Mnuchin told reporters.
The House was originally expected to pass the Democrats’ latest offer that reauthorizes the small business Paycheck Protection Program, provides another round of the $1,200 stimulus checks, $225 billion for education and $57 billion for child care, $75 billion for COVID-19 testing and tracing, and relief for the airline and restaurant industries.
While the Democrats remained in the $2 trillion range, Mr. Mnuchin said he came in with an offer similar to the bipartisan proposal put forth by the Problem Solvers Caucus earlier this month.
That package has a price tag between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion, because of a provision that includes automatic triggers based on hospitalization rates and vaccine development that could adjust the final cost.
Many Democrats, particularly those from tough swing districts, have been pushing party leaders since August to put another relief bill to a vote before the election. Though, they were wary of supporting anything that might just be a one-sided effort.
A bipartisan group of more than 30 House members sent a letter to Mrs. Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, California Republican, last week demanding that members stay on Capitol Hill “until a bipartisan deal is reached and passed in the House.”
