Schumer calls latest round of coronavirus relief talks most productive yet, but sides still 'not close'


Congress ended the week in a deadlock after days of negotiating the next iteration of the CARES coronavirus relief bill, allowing the $600/week unemployment boost to expire without a replacement plan in place. As a result, nearly 30 million U.S. workers will now have a lapse in their unemployment benefits. But talks continued on Saturday, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) sitting down for several hours with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
There's still nothing imminent, but the four negotiators did suggest there was a little more movement Saturday, with Schumer calling it the most productive meeting yet. "Now each side knows where they're at," he said.
Work will continue Sunday with staff only meetings, and Pelosi, Schumer, Mnuchin, and Meadows will meet again on Monday.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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