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President Trump accused congressional Democratic leaders Wednesday evening of blocking a new economic relief deal, further narrowing the path for any agreement to emerge ahead of the election. “Just don’t see any way Nancy Pelosi and Cryin’ Chuck Schumer will be willing to do what is right for our great American workers, or our wonderful USA itself, on Stimulus. Their primary focus is BAILING OUT poorly run (and high crime) Democrat cities and states … Should take care of our people,” Trump wrote on Twitter on Wednesday evening. (Werner and Min Kim, 10/21)

Senate Democrats blocked a scaled-down, GOP-only $500 billion coronavirus bill Wednesday, as talks continue on a bipartisan deal between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the White House. Senators voted 51-44 to end debate on the Republican proposal, falling short of the 60 needed to overcome the procedural hurdle. (Carney, 10/21)

Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Wednesday that a deal on a coronavirus relief package may not come together before the Nov. 3 elections. “I’m optimistic, because even with what Mitch McConnell says — we don’t want to do it before the election — but let’s keep working so that we can do it after the election,” she said on MSNBC. (Niedzwiadek, 10/21)

Nearly 1 million people have exhausted their unemployment benefits since March after losing their jobs to the coronavirus pandemic, according to an analysis published Wednesday by a progressive think tank. The Century Foundation calculated that 933,731 people received their maximum allotment of unemployment insurance payments by Aug. 31, according to Labor Department and Treasury Department data. The number and size of unemployment insurance payments are determined by each state. (Lane, 10/21)

Christian Meza, of Pacific, Washington, relished his job as a bartender -- the camaraderie, the glamour, the small pleasures of making an eye-catching drink. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic sidelined him during a monthlong state shutdown last spring and then shriveled his income, he held on, hoping the crisis would ease and business would bounce back. But by July, the 34-year-old realized, “My industry is not going to be the same. I can’t sit here making $25 a shift.” (Davidson, 10/22)