Democratic, GOP Senate bargainers reach $10B COVID agreement

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Senate bargainers have reached an agreement on a slimmed-down $10 billion package for countering COVID-19, the top Democratic and Republican negotiators said Monday, but the measure dropped all funding to help nations abroad combat the pandemic.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the deal would give the government “the tools we need” to continue battling the disease. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, trumpeted budget savings in the measure that he said meant it “will not cost the American people a single additional dollar.”