The White House and Senate Republican leaders reached an agreement in principle for a fifth round of coronavirus relief, totaling about $1 trillion, including more direct payments to Americans and an extra $16 billion for testing, The Washington Times reported. Senate Republicans are expected to release various parts of the legislation Monday, facing an end-of-the-month deadline for the expiration of $600 weekly unemployment benefits that many Republicans call overly generous. “The administration has requested additional time to review the fine details, but we will be laying down the proposal next week,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). President Donald Trump expressed disappointment that the plan won’t include his proposed payroll tax cut through the end of the year. “I think it’s great for the workers, [but] the Democrats would never have gone for it,” President Trump said. “They’re not big into the workers, I guess. We need their votes. You still need Democrat votes.” The president hailed a provision to spend $105 billion to help schools reopen safely during the pandemic, including mitigation such as smaller class sizes, masks and more teachers’ aides. The proposal will include a funding provision to allow parents to send their children to the school of their choice, including private or religious schools, if public schools don’t reopen.
