Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is now favoring an even more barebones stimulus package. CNBC's Ylan Mui reports. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday backed off his demand for businesses to get coronavirus-related liability protections as part of a year-end rescue package. The Kentucky Republican urged Congress to pass an aid bill that contains neither legal immunity nor state and local government support, two roadblocks to lawmakers striking a relief deal. It is unclear whether Democrats, who oppose a liability shield, will embrace the tradeoff as they warn of teacher and firefighter layoffs in the absence of federal aid to states and municipalities. “What I recommend is we set aside liability and set aside state and local, and pass those things that we can agree on knowing full well we’ll be back at this after the 1st of the year” during the transition to President-elect Joe Biden’s administration, McConnell told reporters on Tuesday. McConnell specifically mentioned a handful of areas where Republicans and Democrats have found consensus: Paycheck Protection Program small business loans, money for Covid-19 vaccine distribution and aid for health-care providers, among “a variety of other things that are not controversial.” He did not say where he currently stands on direct payments to Americans. Congressional Democrats, some Republicans and the Trump administration back another stimulus check after the federal government sent $1,200 payments to most Americans earlier this year. Several Senate progressives and one GOP lawmaker have signaled they oppose a relief bill if it lacks a stimulus check. If Congress resolves neither the liability protection or state and local aid issues this year, McConnell could try to use them as leverage in talks with the Biden administration. The incoming president has backed state and local relief. Leaders in Washington hope to pass a rescue package before the end of the year after months of inaction. Failure to send more help before then could cut off unemployment benefits to about 12 million people and leave millions facing the threat of eviction. To strike a deal in time, Republicans and Democrats still need to resolve major disputes over how best to buoy the economy and health-care system. Lawmakers plan to buy themselves more time to reach both pandemic aid and spending agreements by approving a one-week continuing resolution to keep the government funded through Dec. 18. A bipartisan group has worked for days to craft a $908 billion compromise bill. The lawmakers aim to release more details about the proposal Tuesday afternoon. While Democrats have embraced the plan as a foundation for talks with Republican leaders, McConnell has continued to call for a roughly $500 billion “targeted” bill. He plans to discuss developing stimulus plans with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, according to Bloomberg. A daily average Covid-19 infection rate of more than 200,000 has overwhelmed hospitals across the country. States and cities have implemented new economic restrictions to slow cases in an already sluggish economy where roughly 20 million people are receiving unemployment benefits. » Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision » Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC » Subscribe to CNBC Classic: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCclassic Turn to CNBC TV for the latest stock market news and analysis. From market futures to live price updates CNBC is the leader in business news worldwide. The News with Shepard Smith is CNBC’s daily news podcast providing deep, non-partisan coverage and perspective on the day’s most important stories. Available to listen by 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT daily beginning September 30: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/29/the-news-with-shepard-smith-podcast.html?__source=youtube%7Cshepsmith%7Cpodcast Connect with CNBC News Online Get the latest news: http://www.cnbc.com/ Follow CNBC on LinkedIn: https://cnb.cx/LinkedInCNBC Follow CNBC News on Facebook: https://cnb.cx/LikeCNBC Follow CNBC News on Twitter: https://cnb.cx/FollowCNBC Follow CNBC News on Instagram: https://cnb.cx/InstagramCNBC https://www.cnbc.com/select/best-credit-cards/ #CNBC #CNBCTV