Nearly three-fourths of Americans support $2T coronavirus relief bill: poll

Nearly three-fourths of Americans want President Trump and Congress to approve a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, according to a New York Times-Siena College poll released Tuesday.

Seventy-two percent of respondents to the poll supported a stimulus package totaling $2 trillion, which would split the difference between a $2.2 trillion proposal from House Democrats and a $1.8 trillion counteroffer from the Trump administration.

Just 21 percent of respondents opposed a package of that size that would “extend increased unemployment insurance, send stimulus checks to most Americans and provide financial support to state and local governments,” according to the Times.

The poll was based on the responses of 987 likely voters from Oct. 15 to 18, according to the Times. The margin of error for the poll was 3.4 percentage points. 

The results come as Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — the top Democratic and Republican negotiators, respectively — scramble to iron out a longshot stimulus deal before Election Day.

Pelosi said Sunday that the administration would have until the end of Tuesday to address several Democratic concerns with its counteroffer, which would give Congress less than two weeks to send the bill to Trump before Election Day.

Both Trump and Democrats have expressed support for another $2 trillion in fiscal stimulus as the U.S. economy continues to struggle amid the coronavirus pandemic. There is broad bipartisan agreement over a boost to benefits for the more than 25 million Americans on some form of jobless aid, direct stimulus checks to households and support for struggling small businesses.

There are, however, substantial differences between Pelosi and the administration on state and local aid, a national coronavirus testing plan, child tax credits and funding for school reopenings. 

And even if Pelosi and Mnuchin strike a deal, Senate Republicans have expressed fierce opposition to passing another bill in that price range. 

Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, predicted on Monday that it would be “hard” to get enough GOP support to pass a bill that would be $1.8 trillion or higher. If all 47 Senate Democrats vote in favor of an eventual deal, it would take the support of 13 Republicans to pass the measure.

Trump waived off Thune’s concerns Tuesday, telling “Fox & Friends” that he’ll speak to the Senate GOP deputy leader and voiced confidence that the conference would come around.

“Now, not every Republican agrees with me, but they will,” Trump said.