Senate Republicans unveiled what's become known as the "skinny bill," which would provide some aid to those affected by the pandemic, though not nearly as much as has been demanded by Democrats, whom the Republicans need for the bill to ultimately clear Congress, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The bill, which was originally touted to coast $500 billion, will actually cost about $300 billion, after $650 billion in new spending is offset with $350 billion that would get shifted from the Federal Reserve's lending programs into this new bill's programs. The Journal said this was done to unite Republicans around a single piece of legislation, noting that some had balked at the initial $1 trillion price tag, which was still three times less than what the Democrats had proposed in May. Democrats, in negotiations, said they were willing to go down to $2.2 trillion if the Republicans could meet them in the middle, but it would seem that the GOP was negotiating more with itself. According to the Journal, the bill was designed to give vulnerable Senate Republicans facing tight re-election races in November a chance to demonstrate to voters that they support a coronavirus aid package.

The bill would include $300 in weekly supplemental unemployment insurance until the end of the year (half of what had been offered in the CARES Act program, which expired in July); provide corporations with a broad liability shield against coronavirus-related litigation; offer new tax credits for private-school scholarships and homeschooling expenses; provide $29 billion in health-care funding, $105 billion for schools, and $20 billion for farmers, ranchers and other producers; permit the U.S. Postal Service not to repay a $10 billion loan set up in a previous aid package; and open a new round of Paycheck Protection Program loans.

While Republicans want to vote on this proposal as soon as tomorrow, the Journal said the bill is very unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled House as is. Democratic leaders assailed the skinny bill as woefully insufficient to meet the needs of the pandemic-stricken country.