After weeks of stalled negotiations and months of uncertainty, a second round of stimulus may be slowly approaching reality

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Sunday that Democratic and White House officials are "making progress" on a new bailout package, The Hill reported

This hope comes after President Trump was hospitalized over the weekend with a coronavirus, during which he said, "OUR GREAT USA WANTS & NEEDS STIMULUS Let's work together and get it done"

Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin agreed to resume talks on the stimulus bill in late September after leaving negotiations in early August The House of Representatives subsequently passed a $22 trillion bailout package, including stimulus checks2 and ongoing federal unemployment insurance, late last week

The new bill is a revised version of the $34 trillion HEROES Act that passed the House in May

On Monday, however, House Democrats are still waiting for a response from the White House, the Washington Post reported Mnuchin offered a tentative $16 trillion agreement, but the two sides could not agree on federal unemployment benefits or other spending

The White House is negotiating on behalf of the Republican-controlled Senate, but Mnuchin's offer is already $500 billion above the spending cap that many Republican senators said they could support in July [The Senate is out of session until October 19 If an agreement is reached in the next few days, lawmakers will return to Washington for a vote within 24 hours

It will probably require more Democratic votes than Republican votes to get 60 votes to pass the Senate The bill would also need to be signed by the President

The first item on the Senate Judiciary Committee's agenda is the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett

According to a new Hill Harris poll, 74% of registered voters want the Senate to pass a stimulus package before taking up Barrett's nomination

As of now, another $1,200 in direct stimulus is still being considered All sides are generally in favor of stimulus check 2, and the latest House bill includes this benefit

If a deal is struck, Mnuchin has indicated that the IRS will need about a week to process the payment

Millions of potentially eligible Americans still may not have received their stimulus benefits due to tax paperwork; the IRS has been notifying those who may be eligible for unpaid checks for the past few weeks

If you have received a letter from the IRS, or simply believe you may be eligible, you have until October 15 to enter your information into the IRSgov tool to see if you have unpaid benefits