Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), buoyed by a group of 30 Senate Democrats, is hinting he will press to extend the deadline to file for unemployment benefits until the end of the year. With hundreds of thousands of Americans slated to exhaust their insurance by February 28, Reid is hoping to pass a 30-day extension this week. While doing so would increase bureaucratic headaches for state employment agencies, it would allow the Senate Democrats to craft a more extensive measure in March.

A COBRA extension is also being discussed, as well as additional Medicaid relief for state governments.