Trump backs McConnell's Republican COVID-19 relief package -Mnuchin

President Donald Trump will sign coronavirus relief legislation proposed by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters on Wednesday, should the proposed package pass the U.S. Congress. "The president will sign the McConnell proposal that he put forward yesterday.

President Donald Trump will sign coronavirus relief legislation proposed by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters on Wednesday, should the proposed package pass the U.S. Congress.

"The president will sign the McConnell proposal that he put forward yesterday. We look forward to making progress on that," Mnuchin told reporters on Capitol Hill. Mnuchin spoke a day after he and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows addressed COVID-19 relief with McConnell and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy in a private discussion that focused on measures that Trump could be expected to sign into law.

McConnell, who has been pushing a $500 billion approach that Democrats reject, began circulating new draft legislation on Tuesday after a group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers unveiled a $908 billion bipartisan package. McConnell's outline is very close to the legislation that the Senate leader has been touting for months and was rejected by Democrats, according to one Senate Republican source. The plan includes $332.7 billion in new loans or grants to small businesses, according to a document provided to Reuters.