The Trump administration will ask Congress to approve an $850 billion stimulus package to offset the devastating effect the coronavirus outbreak has had on the country’s economy, according to a report on Tuesday.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is expected to meet with Senate Republicans later in the day to present details of the plan that would seek to inject cash into the economy through a payroll tax cut or other means, the Washington Post reported.
Of that amount, $50 billion would be directed to the airline industry, which has been pummeled by travel restrictions around the globe.
President Trump said Monday that he supported financial help for the airlines.
“We’re going to back the airlines 100 percent,” Trump told reporters at a White House briefing on the outbreak. “We have to back the airlines. It’s not their fault.”
The $850 billion would be in addition to a nearly $100 billion package moving through Congress that would provide paid sick leave for American workers affected by the outbreak.
Mnuchin told senators Monday evening on Capitol Hill that he would like to see the stimulus package clear the Senate by the end of this week, the newspaper reported.
“I think the assumption’s going to be that we’re going to do something, it should be big. Because we can’t assume that we’re just going to keep coming back,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said after the meeting, adding that airline companies would be included.
“We still need to get people around the country. I have no doubt that’s going to be a major feature of the next step,” he said.