After nine hours of negotiations, Senate Democrats reached a compromise on the enhanced unemployment payments in President Biden's COVID-19 stimulus plan, setting it up for passage perhaps as early as Saturday.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), a crucial moderate vote on the Democratic side in the 50-50 Senate, had expressed concern about raising the existing $300 per week benefit (which is set to expire on March 14) to $400 per week, but he came around on a new deal that kept the payments at $300 while extending them until early October. Additionally, the bill now forgives $10,200 in taxes on unemployment benefits received in 2020. The compromise was actually reported earlier in the day, but Manchin took several hours to sign off on it.
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