Stimulus Vote to Test Republican Unity Under Election Pressures

Senate leaders will be trying to hold their parties together for a vote Thursday to advance a slimmed-down stimulus bill that Democrats have already rejected, with both sides jockeying for advantage in public perceptions two months before the election.

A far bigger task looms for Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who crafted a White House-backed proposal that may not go far enough to help vulnerable incumbents in his caucus. That was the price of securing the votes of fiscal hawks worried about adding to a deficit already forecast at $3.3 trillion this year.

Mitch McConnell walks to the Senate Floor in Washington D.C., on Sept. 8.

Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg

Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ...