经过几个月的停滞不前的谈判新冠肺炎救援计划尽管如此，国会高级谈判代表仍在深入讨论，试图在本周末前敲定一项协议。

参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)周二晚些时候对记者表示:“我们正在取得重大进展，我乐观地认为，我们将很快完成一项谅解。”此前，他与对手在闭门会议中挤了几个小时。

“我不打算深入细节，但我们越来越接近了。我整个星期都在说，今晚我还要再说一遍——你听腻了——每个人都想结束。每个人都想尽快达成最终协议。我们都相信国家需要它。我认为我们越来越接近了，”麦康奈尔说。

众议院议长南希·佩洛西邀请麦康奈尔民主党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)和众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡(House少数派领袖)将在她的国会山办公室会面，敲定1.4万亿美元的巨额支出法案和额外的新冠肺炎纾困——这是几个月来两位领导人的首次“四方”会议。

财政部长史蒂文·姆努钦(Steven Mnuchin)也通过电话会议参加了会议。佩洛西本周已经与他谈了三次。

舒默星期二离开国会大厦时告诉记者，两党正在交换文件。

舒默说:“我们正在谈判，我们正在来回交换文件和想法，取得进展，希望我们能很快达成协议。”。“我不想谈具体细节，但我认为各方都有达成协议的真诚愿望...我们在工作，工作，工作。”

当被问及晚上早些时候是否能达成协议时，麦康奈尔回答说:“我们仍在相互谈判，各方一致认为，如果没有一个(总括)和一个(新冠肺炎)方案，我们不会离开这里。”

卡罗琳·布雷曼/通过盖蒂图像池

2020年12月15日，参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔在华盛顿举行新闻发布会。

周二的多次会议是在即将到来的12月18日政府资助截止日期之前举行的。

议员们仍在研究综合支出法案的细节，该法案将资助政府到2021年9月。最高谈判者已经确认，立法文本将于周二公布，但问题仍然存在:公共工程项目的工资要求和对意外医疗费用的限制。

与此同时，议员们仍需要就新冠肺炎纾困方案达成一致，并预期任何刺激协议都将“搭上”必须在周五前通过的支出法案的顺风车。

亚历山大·德拉戈/路透社

参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默在每周新闻发布会上将手机交给助手

数百万美国人在大流行期间依赖的几个大流行救济项目将于今年年底到期。

流行病紧急失业补偿计划提供额外的13周失业保险，流行病失业援助计划帮助自营职业者或兼职人员，该计划将于12月31日到期。

全国范围内的驱逐令将于年底到期，学生贷款延期计划也将于年底到期，唐纳德·特朗普总统通过行政命令实施了该计划。

自营职业者所需带薪病假和家庭病假的税收抵免也将到期。

帮助小企业主的薪水保护计划在8月份停止接受申请。增加的600美元联邦失业保险在7月下旬用完。

周一晚间，一个由众议院和参议院议员组成的两党小组公布了两项总额为9080亿美元的妥协法案，国会领导人希望这些法案将被用作讨论的“框架”。

艾琳·斯科特/路透社，文件

2020年12月10日，众议院议长南希·佩洛西抵达国会大厦参加她的每周新闻发布会。

这两项法案中的第一项是一项7480亿美元的提案，其中包括两党基本一致的措施。其中包括用于小企业管理的3000亿美元、每周300美元的联邦失业援助、130亿美元的食品援助、250亿美元的租金援助、教育资金、儿童保育资金、疫苗分发资金、驱逐延期、扩大学生贷款延期等等。

第一个法案旨在解决“紧急”问题，几乎所有的问题都有两党的一致意见。

第二项法案包括民主党想要的地方和州政府的资金，还将解决共和党支持的雇主责任保护问题——这两个棘手的问题已经拖延了几个月的谈判。

这份1600亿美元的提案包括1520亿美元的州和地方援助，以及一项关于建立分配方案的协议，以确保新冠肺炎救助资金不会用于病毒爆发前各州的债务。

成员们承认，责任保护仍然是对话中最困难的症结所在。

舒默在周二的新闻发布会上继续倡导州和地方援助。

舒默说:“我认为我们需要在州和地方进行更多的分配。每个人都知道我的立场，它得到了两党的广泛支持。”。

周二早些时候，麦康奈尔誓言，在新冠肺炎纾困协议达成之前，参议院不会离开。

“我们不会走的。我向你保证，我们不会离开，直到我们完成这个包，”麦康奈尔告诉记者。

Lawmakers in 11th-hour negotiations on COVID-19 relief

After months of stalled negotiations on a desperately-neededCOVID-19 relief package, top Congressional negotiators are still deep in discussions to try and hammer out a deal before the end of the week.

"We're making significant progress and I’m optimistic that we're gonna be able to complete an understanding sometime soon," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters late Tuesday night after huddling with his counterparts for several hours behind closed doors.

"I'm not going to get into details, but we're getting closer. And as I've said all week and I’ll say again tonight - you're tired of hearing it - everybody wants to finish. Everybody wants to get a final agreement as soon as possible. We all believe the country needs it. And I think we're getting closer and closer," McConnell said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had invitedMcConnell, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to meet in person at her Capitol Hill office to finalize both a massive $1.4 trillion spending bill and additional COVID-19 relief – the first “Four Corners” meeting the leaders have had in months.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin – whom Pelosi has spoken with three times already this week – also joined the meeting by conference call.

Schumer told reporters as he left the Capitol Tuesday that the two parties are exchanging papers.

"We’re talking, we're exchanging paper and ideas back and forth, making progress and hopefully we can come to an agreement soon," Schumer said. "I'm not getting into specific details, but I think there is a genuine desire to come to an agreement by every - by all four parties...we're working, working, working."

Asked if an agreement is within reach earlier in the evening, McConnell replied: “We are still talking to each other and there is agreement that we are not going to leave here without an [omnibus] and a [COVID-19] package.”

The multiple meetings Tuesday come ahead of an upcoming government funding deadline on Dec.18.

Lawmakers are still working on details of the omnibus spending bill that would fund the government through September 2021. Top negotiators had confirmed that legislative text would be out Tuesday, but issues remain: wage requirements for public works projects and limits on surprise medical bills.

At the same time, lawmakers still need an agreement on a COVID-19 relief package, with the expectation that any stimulus deal would “hitch a ride” on the spending bill that must pass before Friday.

Several pandemic relief programs that millions of Americans have relied on during the pandemic are set to expire at the end of the year.

Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, which provides an additional 13 weeks of unemployment insurance and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, which aids self-employed or part-time workers, are set to expire on Dec. 31.

The nationwide eviction moratorium will expire at the end of the year, as well as the student loan forbearance program, which President Donald Trump implemented by executive order.

Tax credits for required paid sick leave and for family sick leave for self-employed individuals will also expire.

The Paycheck Protection Program to assist small business owners stopped taking applications in August. And the boosted $600 in federal unemployment insurance ran out in late July.

Late Monday, a bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers unveiled two compromise bills totaling $908 billion, which leaders on the Hill hope will be used as a “framework” for discussions.

The first of the two bills is a $748 billion proposal that includes measures both parties are largely in agreement on. It includes $300 billion for the small business administration, $300 per week in federal unemployment assistance, $13 billion for food assistance, $25 billion for rental assistance, education funding, child care funding, funding for vaccine distribution, an eviction moratorium, an expansion of student loan forbearance and more.

The first bill is meant to address "emergency" issues and there is bipartisan agreement on nearly all of it.

The second bill includes money for local and state governments that Democrats want, and it would also address liability protections for employers, which Republicans support – both of these are thorny issues that have held up negotiations for months.

The $160 billion proposal includes $152 billion for state and local aid and an agreement on the creation of a distribution formula to ensure that COVID-19 relief money is not being used for debts incurred by states before the virus.

Members concede that liability protections remain the most difficult sticking point in conversations.

Schumer continued to advocate for state and local aid during his press conference Tuesday.

"I think we need more for distribution on state and local everyone knows my position, it has broad bipartisan support,” Schumer said.

Earlier Tuesday, McConnell vowed that the Senate would not leave until a COVID-19 relief deal is reached.

"We're not leaving. I assure you, we are not leaving until we finish this package," McConnell told reporters.