WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. Senate scrambled on Saturday to forge a bipartisan agreement on a $1 trillion-plus bill aimed at stemming the economic fallout from the growing coronavirus outbreak, as talks neared a deadline for drafting and passing the legislation.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers worked behind closed doors to reach an agreement in principle and to draft formal legislation by the end of the day to help individuals, small businesses and industries hard hit by the public health crisis, and to boost funding for healthcare efforts to control the virus.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters he expects the final legislative package to be worth $1.3 trillion to $1.4 trillion.
Combined with actions undertaken by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the administration, the prospective bill would have a $2 trillion net impact on a U.S. economy facing powerful headwinds spawned by the outbreak, according to White House officials.
“We’re getting closer and closer to an agreement,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who intends to hold a vote to pass the sprawling package on Monday.
“I think we’re clearly going to get there,” he told reporters.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a number of issues were still outstanding but observed that lawmakers were “making very good progress.”
A consensus appeared to be emerging on the general contours of the package and both sides were finding common ground on benefits for individuals, small businesses and people left unemployed by coronavirus, according to Republicans.
But with Monday’s vote deadline looming, a White
