House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday that they plan to resume formal negotiations on a stimulus bill that would include stimulus check 2 Initial negotiations stalled in early August, when the two sides were unable to reach an agreement

The Hill reports that both sides have acknowledged that they have agreed to come to the negotiating table again In the weeks after talks stalled, Pelosi and Mnuchin spoke by phone numerous times, but no substantive progress was made

In preparation for the resumption of negotiations, Pelosi asked the House committee heads to prepare a scaled-back stimulus plan with a price tag of about $24 trillion

In recent weeks, Pelosi has held firm on her request for a $22 trillion package, while the Trump administration has offered a $15 trillion spending package

According to Politico, Pelosi has actually asked Democrats to begin drafting a new bill in August, but lawmakers are expected to update it this week The new bill, which would likely provide short-term federal unemployment benefits and relief to state and local governments, could be voted on by the House before lawmakers leave town on October 2

According to the Washington Post, Business Roundtable President Joshua Bolten said, "More massive support from the federal government is needed to prevent the economic recovery from faltering"

Pelosi is under pressure from moderates in her party to move forward with the stimulus package, especially as Election Day approaches and Democrats who won normally Republican districts in 2018 worry about their seats And this week, a bipartisan group of House members urged leaders to keep lawmakers in session in Washington until an agreement is reached and a vote is taken

Pelosi said the House will stay in session but allow members to leave their districts and vote remotely The House is not scheduled to vote from October 2 through November 16 The Senate will hold out until October 9 and return on November 9

The House already passed its second stimulus package, the $34 trillion HEROES bill, in May, but Pelosi and other Democratic leaders have been unable to come to terms with the $11 trillion HEALS bill introduced by Senate Republican leadership in July

The White House is leading the negotiations on the Republican side, and the Trump administration appears to want to spend more than many Republicans want

As it stands, the Democrats and the White House remain about $700 billion apart The Senate has recently failed to advance a $500 billion "skinny" bill and has not advanced any additional proposals