US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, March 23, 2020. (Photo: AP)

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Top US congressional lawmakers and the Trump administration on Tuesday are close to reach an agreement on a stimulus package, worth at least 1.6 trillion US dollars, to cushion the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

"I believe we are on the five-yard line," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday on the Senate floor, adding lawmakers are "very close" to a bill that takes bold Republican framework and integrates further ideas from both parties.

"I'm not sure how many ways to say it but the clock has run out. The buzzer is sounding. The hour for bargaining as though this were business as usual has expired," McConnell said. "I hope today is the day this body will get it done."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that right now negotiators are on the two-yard-line for an economic package that contains "lots of good things."

"As I also said last night at this point of the few outstanding issues, I don't see any that can't be overcome within the next few hours," Schumer said on the Senate floor.

Nancy Pelosi, Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, also told CNBC on Tuesday morning that there is "real optimism" that an agreement would be reached in the next few hours.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has led the negotiations for Republicans, said Tuesday morning that he expected a deal, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"We're looking forward to closing a bipartisan deal today. The president wants us to get this done today. We're down to a small number of issues, and we look forward to a successful outcome," Mnuchin was quoted as saying.

Earlier in the day, US President Donald Trump also pressed lawmakers to reach an agreement on the stimulus package to support the economy and workers.

"Congress must approve the deal, without all of the nonsense, today. The longer it takes, the harder it will be to start up our economy. Our workers will be hurt!" Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.

The stimulus package came as the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak is expected to have a significant negative impact on the US economy, with economists' predictions for losses of up to five million jobs this year.

A recession in the United States is now all but certain, according to a recent survey of 34 economists conducted by The Wall Street Journal, which projects a downturn that would last months at least and would in some ways rival the severity of the recent global financial crisis in 2008.