Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who had suggested leading up to Election Day that the stimulus package would have to wait until 2021 to be implemented, has called for a bill containing a second stimulus package to be introduced by the end of the year.

McConnell was reelected on Tuesday, but then lawmakers reversed course on the urgency of considering and approving a second stimulus bill. [McConnell said at a press conference on Wednesday (November 4), "Hopefully, partisan passions will be put to rest by the election. [The Senate has largely recused itself from the back-and-forth stimulus talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin (who represents the Trump administration and, in theory, all Congressional Republicans).

Instead, Senate Republicans have spent the past few weeks focused on confirming Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Late last month, they took an almost symbolic procedural vote on the $500 billion "skinny" stimulus bill that was blocked by Democrats. The bill does not include stimulus check 2.

It is unclear what McConnell will propose in the future, but he has indicated that future legislation may include the "support for state and local government" that Democrats are seeking. McConnell has also expressed support in the past for reissuing the $1,200 check.

According to the Washington Post, Pelosi did not immediately respond to McConnell's comments.

Prior to Election Day, Pelosi and Mnuchin were close to an agreement on a nearly $2 trillion package similar to the Democrats' revised HEROES Act, which passed a House vote in early October.

The two sides agreed on the need for stimulus check 2, but the amount of aid to state and local governments and to coronavirus testing remained an obstacle to agreement, as did Republican insistence on corporate liability protection for pandemic-related litigation.

Senate Republicans have balked at spending close to $2 trillion, regardless of how the White House negotiates.

The IRS is still accepting claims for outstanding checks from the first stimulus package. Millions of Americans may have missed out on a $1,200 payment or a $500 dependent care credit because they did not file their tax returns in recent years.

If you have received a notice that you may be eligible for benefits or believe you may have missed out on benefits, you have until November 21 to enter your information into the Unreported Filers tool on IRS.gov.