Laura Litvan

Republican and Democratic senators said they’re open to considering the first change in the national gasoline tax since 1993 to help fund a bipartisan infrastructure spending package.

Mitt Romney is helping lead lawmakers in creating a new proposal to present to the Biden administration.

President Joe Biden laid out what he called a “bold” plan to rebuild U.S. infrastructure, but now needs an equally ambitious effort to wrangle it through Congress in the face of Republican opposition and criticism from within his Democratic Party.

The Senate enters the final stages of debating President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill on Thursday, with passage in the chamber likely pushed off until the weekend.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’s ready to start moving on a Democrat-only COVID-19 relief plan as soon as next week if Republicans continue to reject President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal.

The House and Senate are set to vote Monday on $900 billion in pandemic relief aimed at boosting the U.S. economy into the early spring, combined with $1.4 trillion to fund regular government operations for the rest of the fiscal year.

The U.S. Senate and Supreme Court are joining the House in not implementing President Donald Trump’s order allowing employers to defer payroll taxes owed by workers.

Senate leaders will be trying to hold their parties together for a vote Thursday to advance a slimmed-down stimulus bill that Democrats have already rejected, with both sides jockeying for advantage in public perceptions two months before the election.

Democrats are demanding more Republican concessions to meet an end-of-the-week deadline for a deal on pandemic relief, and one of the chief White House negotiators warned there is little time left for negotiations.

Talks to break an impasse over a new virus relief package become increasingly urgent this week with millions of jobless Americans left without additional aid, and the Senate scheduled to leave for an extended break on Friday.

The GOP legislation includes a second tranche of stimulus payments, structured the same way as the earlier round, in March, along with tax credits for businesses.

Senate Republicans presented a series of bills that would trim unemployment benefits, send $1,200 to most Americans, and shield businesses, schools and other organizations from coronavirus lawsuits.

The 160 million Americans who got stimulus checks earlier this year would get another payment as soon as next month under a plan being negotiated by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Republicans and the White House are counting on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reconciling GOP differences with a draft coronavirus relief package that they can take into negotiations with congressional Democrats.

Republicans crafting their own plan for a new U.S. virus-relief bill broadly endorsed a fresh round of stimulus checks to individuals, extended supplemental jobless benefits and more money for testing while voicing doubts over President Donald Trump’s desired payroll tax cut.

With a resurgence of the coronavirus threatening a nascent rebound of the U.S. economy, the White House and Congress are under increased pressure to come to terms on another round of stimulus.

The bill, which passed the House last week on a 417-1 vote, now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.