Schumer said Friday evening that he was "hopeful" a deal can be reached but negotiators still had a long way to go.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), whose panel oversees a big portion of the economic-relief package, said there are "three or four [issues] that have to be worked out."

Among the unresolved issues are increased unemployment insurance payments, significant financial assistance for hospitals and health-care providers to treat coronavirus victims, and a proposed "State Stabilization Fund,” which is intended to address billions of dollars in looming revenue shortfalls suffered by state governments during the emergency.

But Republicans believe that Democrats won't block any rescue bill over fear of the potential political fallout.

"As I said, there's been a lot of good conversations, a lot of substantial progress, but with the way the schedule is now accelerated in the Senate, the Senate needs to begin drafting legislative text, and they'll turn to that next," said White House Legislative Affairs Director Eric Ueland.

Ueland added that the White House and Senate Republicans "are very hopeful" that Democrats "won't elect to grind it to a halt or gridlock it on the floor because a lot of improvements made in the legislation involve reflection of the concepts that they brought to Senate Republicans and us over the next several hours."

McConnell's proposed timetable for finishing work on what is likely to turn out to be the most expensive economic rescue package in American history sets an incredibly ambitious pace. Republicans and White House say there is an urgent need to address the growing public-health emergency, and McConnell is already preparing to take the procedural moves needed to make that happen.

The negotiations began Friday morning in the historic Hart 216 room, where Supreme Court nominations and crucial hearings often are held, and then shifted to the Finance Committee's offices as four "task forces" and sub-groups met. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spent the day huddled with senators from both parties as they searched for an agreement. Mnuchin also had multiple phone conversations with Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to try to work through problems in the "Phase 3" package.



“I tasked these bipartisan teams to reach agreement by the end of the day today, tonight,” McConnell said. “We’ll need Saturday to be drafting what we’ve agreed to … We’ll need tomorrow for Legislative Counsel to draft the agreement. And as [Mnuchin] has indicated, it is important for us to be on the Senate floor and pass the measure by Monday.”

The four task forces — which covered distressed industries, small business, financial assistance to individual Americans and health care — took a "pause" in the middle of Friday afternoon while Republicans huddled for a policy lunch and Senate aides rushed to put the proposals into writing.

Yet it was clear by early evening that McConnell's midnight deadline was going to be missed. Both sides said they would begin again early Saturday morning.

The high-level talks come a day after Senate Republicans introduced their $1 trillion stimulus package to save the U.S. economy by assisting individuals, small businesses and industries that have been hit hard by the pandemic.

But Senate Democrats argue the GOP proposal overall benefits businesses and industries while not doing enough for average Americans.

Schumer, who also spoke to President Donald Trump Friday morning, asked the president to use the Defense Production Act for more medical equipment, including ventilators, according to Schumer’s spokesperson.

During a sometimes angry 90-minute press conference at the White House, Trump said he had an “extremely good” conversation with the minority leader and expressed optimism about the “Phase 3” stimulus deal.

"We were working on various elements of the deal, and the Democrats are very much wanting something to happen, and the Republicans likewise are very much wanting something to happen. And I think it will,” Trump said at a daily press briefing of the White House coronavirus task force. He didn’t address the Defense Production Act.

Trump added that he also spoke at length with McConnell as well.