After an unexpected realignment of priorities this week, lawmakers from both parties and the White House appear poised to move forward with a larger coronavirus relief stimulus bill, including Stimulus 2. However, there are late reports that the Senate may soon go home and not take up the issue at all.

President Trump tweeted yesterday (September 16) that Republicans should "aim for higher numbers" in the stimulus package, a position Democrats have taken in negotiations between the two parties.

According to the Washington Post, Trump also expressed support last night for a new bill proposed by the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group of House members, for an estimated $1.5 to $2 trillion.

According to the Post, "I like bigger amounts," Trump said. 'I want to see people get their money.'

The problem-solving bill includes a stimulus check2, funding for state and local governments, and the resumption of federal unemployment benefit supplemental payments.

Unemployment benefits would start at $450 per week for two months and then increase to $600 per week as long as the total state and federal amount is below the recipient's previous income. The exact cost of this proposal is uncertain because the end date for weekly unemployment benefits has not been determined.

Leaders of both parties have already rejected the problem-solving bill on the grounds that it goes too far or not far enough, but it has bipartisan support and is closer to what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (R-Calif.) has been pushing.

The House already passed a $3.4 trillion budget bill (the HEROES Act) in May. Over the summer, Pelosi lowered the Democrats' request to $2.2 trillion and hoped to reach a halfway compromise with Republicans in negotiations to reconcile the HEROES bill with the Senate Republicans' $1.1 trillion HEALS bill.

Pelosi spoke by phone with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Wednesday. Mnuchin is negotiating on behalf of the Trump administration and Senate Republican leadership and had previously indicated his support for a $1.5 trillion stimulus package. However, direct talks have been on hold since mid-August, leaving a $700 billion gap between the two sides.

Both Democrats and Republicans are itching to pass some kind of new stimulus bill before Election Day on November 3, but centrist House Democrats, some of whom helped craft the problem-solving legislation, are especially pressuring Pelosi. She has indicated that the House is willing to stay in session until an agreement is reached.

Only Senate Republicans remain, having failed to advance their nearly symbolic "skinny" bailout last weekend; according to Politico, Republicans have "kicked off" President Trump's call for a more massive stimulus package.

In fact, senators may return home soon to campaign in their states, two weeks earlier than the scheduled October 9 recess, and are not scheduled to return to Washington until after November 3.