Despite all the optimism, Covid relief may have to wait at least one more day as Congress races to finish its business for the year.
The House is poised to deliver $900 billion in coronavirus aid as soon as Sunday evening after breaking a multi-day stalemate over the Federal Reserve’s lending powers. But the lower chamber is releasing legislative text late enough in the day that GOP senators say they want more time to read the measure before voting on it.
Given the uncertainty over when Congress will pass the measure, the House is planning to pass a week-long spending patch to buy time for the Senate to pass the bill — and for the federal government to print it and finalize it for President Donald Trump’s signature.
With Congress moving toward yet another midnight deadline for a government shutdown, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked a reporter if they’re getting their “cots” ready, in another sign of a potentially late night at the Capitol. But several Republicans said it needs to wait a day in the Senate.
“We need to be able to read it,” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). “You’re literally voting on something no one has read right at that point. So, yeah, I’m not a fan of that.”
Still, the day brought mostly positive momentum after Schumer hatched a deal late Saturday with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) over the GOP’s demand to wind down lending programs established by the relief bill passed in March. With that roadblock removed the House and Senate are now on a glide path to approve the aid package and its partner, a $1.4 trillion bill funding the government through September.
And it could be a big vote: Toomey, a diehard fiscal conservative, even said he intends to support the package that will amount to roughly $2.3 trillion.
“Despite the significant reservations I have about some particular features, I think the good outweighs the bad and it is my intention at this point to vote for it,” Toomey told reporters after describing how he and Democrats narrowed his proposal to only affect a handful of programs that were opened in specific response to the pandemic.
Still, it was notable how rushed the process had become. No bill text was available by 5 p.m. despite constant reassurances from congressional leaders they were close to a deal. That set up a late night in the House and an uncertain schedule in the Senate.
“At this point we’re down to the last few differences that stand between struggling Americans and the major rescue package they need and deserve,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday afternoon, adding that he expects final legislative language “in a matter of hours.”
The 11th-hour breakthrough comes after Congress struggled for months to deliver another relief package, even as the health crisis worsened. Adding to the sense of urgency, a number of critical aid programs are to expire on Dec. 26, while the coronavirus death toll has hit 315,000 in the United States. Lawmakers have already allocated $3 trillion toward the pandemic.
“The great news is that Congress is not going to be the Grinch,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said on ABC’s “This Week.” “We’re going to get this package done.”
But the race to jam a multi-trillion dollar rescue and spending package through the House and Senate — potentially just hours after the bill is released — has infuriated some Republicans and Democrats, even if they are still likely to vote for the final product.
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, said she’s “frustrated to be part of an institution that is so dysfunctional that it doesn’t even work until the last minute.”
Still, congressional leaders are expected to be able to muscle the package through both chambers — it’s just a matter of how quickly they can do so.
“I think we’re close, we’re very close,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters as she arrived at the Capitol Sunday. “We want to have members have enough time to review it all.”
Though the Fed feud dominated the past 48 hours, the crux of the package remains the same: a $300 boost in weekly unemployment benefits, $600 relief checks for individuals, more than $300 billion for small business aid and huge pots of money for schools, hospitals and vaccine distribution. Negotiators left behind an attempt to marry a liability shield with aid for state and local governments after it proved impossible to negotiate.
Trump, who has been largely uninvolved in the stimulus talks, urged lawmakers to boost the direct payments, joining a bipartisan chorus led by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). They’d like to see checks double in size to $1,200, the amount approved by Congress in March.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 GOP leader, confirmed that the unemployment benefits will be a $300 weekly boost and the checks will be $600 payments sent to everyone that was eligible for the first round of checks in the spring. Asked about Trump’s drive for larger checks on Fox News Sunday, Barrasso said: “We need to get this done today. The president is right in that this is no fault of the American people.”
Each side sought to portray the agreement on the Fed’s lending as a victory after both parties dug in on Saturday. Toomey and Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Schumer eventually broke the deadlock.
A Democratic aide said Toomey dropped his drive to prevent “the Fed Chair from establishing similar facilities in the future to the ones created in March.”
Toomey acknowledged he narrowed his proposal but said he is “very pleased” he achieved all his goals: Rescinding unspent funding for the CARES Act facilities, winding them down and banning their reopening and barring clones.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — who briefed the House GOP during a Sunday conference call — also claimed victory after bringing Democrats down from their initial $3 trillion proposal. But several members complained that the deal didn’t include a provision to ensure small business loans are tax deductible, according to a source on the call. Negotiators continued to work on the issue and Senate Majority Whip John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, confirmed Sunday evening that the fix will be included in the bill after all.
Negotiators are still working on the issue, according to a source familiar with the talks. One GOP lawmaker told POLITICO that the fix is now likely to be included, though warned that “information is coming out in dribs and drabs.”
Sanders hinted Friday that he could object to swift consideration of the measure if it does not include “substantial” direct payments. He has declined to draw a specific red line, though. Any one senator could use procedural tools to prevent the government from being funded past Sunday.
Heather Caygle and Sarah Ferris contributed to this report.