WASHINGTON—Just before midnight on Wednesday, the Senate passed a $2.2 trillion economic relief package by a vote of 96-0. Some senators missed the vote due to quarantine or self-isolation. Underscoring the severity of the financial disaster, nearly 3.3. million Americans filed unemployment claims last week, compared to just 216,000 the entire month of February.

WASHINGTON—Leaders from both parties announced overnight they had agreed on a $2 trillion bill to pump aid into a struggling economy during the coronavirus crisis. The Senate expects to pass the measure in the next couple of days.

WASHINGTON—Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said just before noon on Tuesday that negotiators likely will agree on an economic relief package in the next few hours. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin met with Schumer six times on Monday and was at the Capitol again on Tuesday to hammer out a bill designed to ease economic stress during the coronavirus outbreak. The proposal, with a price tag of almost $2 trillion, failed a second time in the Senate on Monday.

WASHINGTON—States do not have to stick to a particular insanity test in criminal cases, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Monday. Lawyers for James Kahler, who shot and killed four members of his family in 2009 in Burlingame, Kan., argued that the state of Kansas violated his due process rights by rejecting his argument that his depression made him unable to distinguish right from wrong.

WASHINGTON—Democrats once again thwarted a massive economic recovery proposal in the Senate on Monday. The $1.8 trillion package failed on a 49-46 vote, falling 11 votes short of the needed 60 to pass. The Republican majority turned out in smaller numbers because several GOP senators are in isolation after contracting or being exposed to COVID-19, the disease that caused the financial devastation in the first place. Sen.

WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats voted Sunday to block an economic relief bill because it did not have enough worker protections. The $1 trillion proposal includes $350 billion to help small businesses make payroll and up to $1,200 for each taxpayer. Lawmakers will vote again on Monday.

How is the economy responding? Markets slumped again Monday morning. The Federal Reserve tried to give them a boost by announcing it will buy unlimited Treasury bonds. The Fed also will lend to businesses and local governments to keep credit flowing.

WASHINGTON—Several senators unloaded millions of dollars in stock holdings just before the coronavirus pandemic sent the markets into a tailspin, reports revealed o