Republicans are aiming to offer an alternative to Democrats’ push to continue the $600 weekly federal unemployment payments, which are in addition to state unemployment benefits. Some conservatives fear the amount is so high that it might be keeping people from returning to work.
Despite calls all week from Democrats demanding a vote on the bill in the senate or at least to even discuss the bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to take it up. In this article from CNN, McConnell said that the Senate will wait a couple weeks to decide on a phase four stimulus bill.
The Senate has to decide whether it agrees to do what the House has already done and approve the following provisions, present a modified version on stimulus checks, or refuse additional stimulus checks altogether. They can even start with a blank slate to write their own bill.