Coronavirus Relief Bill: Republicans Eye Stimulus Checks and Billions for Schools

“We have been united in our priorities; their delay is their disarray,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi after meeting with Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Meadows in her Capitol office suite along with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader. “We want to see what they’re putting forth.”

Several elements of the Republicans’ plan remained in flux, and Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House late Tuesday afternoon that he had yet to be briefed on it. Still undecided was how the bill would address the expiration of a $600-a-week unemployment benefit supplement put in place by the stimulus law enacted in March. Republicans have made clear that they intend to scale back the payment, which they say disincentivizes work because it is larger than what workers in some parts of the country earn in regular wages.

Also unresolved was the matter of a payroll tax cut, a priority for the administration but one that most lawmakers oppose. Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, pushed back against the idea, arguing that direct payments to families, which would probably be sent out in October, would prove more meaningful to individual voters.

Officials involved in the talks said some progress had been made, particularly as Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Meadows appeared to warm to the idea of allocating billions of dollars for states to conduct testing and contact tracing and top health agencies. Administration officials had angered Republicans over the weekend by rejecting those proposals. Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, pressed Mr. Mnuchin in the lunch about the need for testing and later said he received assurances that there would be enough funding.

But it was unclear whether the White House would accept the school funding proposal Republicans were assembling, or insist that any money be tied to full-time reopening of schools, in line with Mr. Trump’s strident calls.

Senator Roy Blunt, Republican of Missouri, said on Tuesday that the $105 billion for education would include about $70 billion for elementary, middle and high schools, with more money available to school districts that reopen in the fall. Senate Democrats have put forward legislation that would provide $430 billion to schools.

“They’re going to have more expenses, transportation and petitions and different ways to have meals than they’ve had in the past,” Mr. Blunt said, adding that $30 billion would be set aside for colleges and universities and $5 billion for governors to use at their discretion.