(CNN) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who have cut several major deals during the coronavirus pandemic, are trying one final time to ease a bitter standoff on Capitol Hill over a pre-Election Day package to provide relief to millions of Americans reeling from the damaging economic crisis. Pelosi and Mnuchin have spoken several times in recent days, including Monday night and plan to again on Tuesday. But the House speaker has made contingency plans in case the effort falls apart: She and her top lieutenants on Monday night unveiled a $2.2 trillion plan, down from the $3.4 trillion measure that passed the House largely along party lines in May and has since been ignored by the GOP-led Senate. That price tag for the bill is still far too high for the White House and Senate Republicans, who tried to advance a $500 billion plan this month that was blocked by Democrats over concerns it didn't go far enough. According to a summary of the new House Democratic plan released Monday night, the measure includes several of the pillars of the Heroes Act that passed the chamber in May -- but with a shorter timeframe, in a bid to reduce the overall cost.

Source: CNN September 29, 2020 01:30 UTC