Trump Pitches $850 Billion Stimulus Package Over Coronavirus

The Treasury secretary said that this would inject $300 billion into the economy. He added that people who can file their taxes now should do so, because many will get refunds

The Trump administration is also supporting a request for $50 billion in economic relief for the airline industry as part of the broader package. The industry’s lobbying group publicly made the request on Monday, asking for grants, loan guarantees and tax relief. The administration is also considering ways to support the cruise ship industry.

Widespread travel restrictions are throttling both industries and are expected to be a major drag on global economic growth. Economists at Capital Economics predicted that tourism worldwide could be cut by 50 percent over the next six weeks, sapping in 0.7 percentage points from the world’s annual gross domestic product.

The proposal is emerging amid a growing sense of urgency among lawmakers to step in with aggressive measures to stanch the economic pain wrought by the pandemic, and mounting anxiety that Congress is running out of time to do so. With public health officials counseling significant measures to slow the spread of coronavirus, and states and cities ordering businesses to close, limitations on travel and other restrictions on movement, it is not clear how long lawmakers will be able to continue gathering in Washington.

Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, said on Tuesday that senators would not leave the capital before passing “significant and bold new steps, above and beyond what the House has passed, to help our strong nation and our strong underlying economy weather this storm.”

Mr. Trump’s payroll tax cut has drawn opposition from members of both parties, and a growing chorus of Republicans and Democrats are calling instead for cash payments to Americans. Senator Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, said this week that every adult American should receive a $1,000 check from the government to help boost spending in the economy. A group of Democratic senators, led by Michael Bennet of Colorado, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, is pushing Congress to send as much as $4,500 to nearly every adult and child in the United States this year, as part of a sustained government income-support program to counter the economic slowdown.

The Senate has yet to act on the measure the House passed last week, which was the product of negotiations between Democrats and Mr. Mnuchin. The House on Monday substantially scaled back the scope of the paid leave provisions as part of an agreed-upon package that passed quietly without a vote.

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