Washington (CNN)Republican senators are close to reaching an agreement among themselves on the details of the $1 trillion stimulus plan, two GOP sources tell CNN, a package that one Treasury memo suggests could include a combined $500 billion in checks to Americans to address the economic impact of the coronavirus.
Groups of GOP senators met behind closed doors to hammer out the final details -- but were facing new pressure from Democrats to include them in the talks in order to quickly reach a bipartisan deal on a proposal more far-reaching than Washington's intervention during the 2008 financial crisis.
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The response package proposed by the White House would include a first wave of checks to Americans that would cost $250 billion, a source familiar with the matter has told CNN.
CNN has obtained a two-page memo from the US Treasury detailing their recommendations for the phase three coronavirus stimulus package. Republican senators are working off of the memo as they draft their own proposal.
The Treasury memo breaks the nearly $1 trillion dollar package down four main categories, including a category for direct payments to taxpayers split into two rounds of $250 billion per round. The memo states that the first round of payments would be issued starting on April 6.
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For Republican senators, the idea is to cut a deal among themselves, and then try to hammer out a bipartisan agreement with Democrats on a massive package that could pass Congress in a matter of days. But Democrats have their own plans, so there are hard-fought negotiations ahead.
The plan's massive price tag underscores the growing fears in the White House and on Capitol Hill that the coronavirus outbreak could send the economy into a damaging recession -- and that aggressive intervention by Washington is needed immediately to reverse course. Already, lawmakers have pushed two major pieces of legislation to address the growing crisis.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to keep the Senate in session until a stimulus package is passed.
McConnell announced on Wednesday that the Senate will vote later in the day on a coronavirus relief package that previously passed the House, and reiterated that he will not adjourn the Senate until they pass what lawmakers are describing as a "phase three" economic stimulus package.
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"While I will support the House bill in order to secure some emergency relief for some American workers, I will not adjourn the Senate until we have passed a far bolder package that must include significant relief for small businesses all across our country," he said.
As Republicans work to win support for their legislative proposal, they will have to respond to questions about its massive price tag.
Senate Majority Whip John Thune said on Wednesday that Senate Republicans are "narrowing around a set of recommendations" about their proposal to stimulate the economy.
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Asked if he's concerned about bailouts, Thune said: "I don't think anybody's looking at it in terms of bailouts. I think we're looking at what does it take to keep critical industries and small businesses afloat."
In one sign of how quickly Republicans are trying to move, Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Susan Collins of Maine plan to unveil their piece of the Senate GOP's economic stimulus proposal at a Wednesday afternoon press conference: a $300 billion package for small businesses.
But in an indication that it may not be easy to find consensus across the aisle, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday criticized the way that Senate Republicans are negotiating their economic package, calling for them to do more to include Democrats in the process.
"Phase three legislation should be the product of a five corners negotiation," he said. "House and Senate leaders, majority and minority, plus the White House."
"But Leader McConnell announced yesterday that his plan to develop the next phase of legislation would be first for Senate Republicans to sit among themselves and then sit down with the administration and come up with their own proposal before presenting it to Senate Democrats, let alone House Democrats," Schumer said. "The process that Leader McConnell has outlined ... is too cumbersome, too partisan and will take far too long given the urgency and need for cooperation."
This story has been updated with additional developments Wednesday.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny and Phil Mattingly contributed to this report.
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