Congress Fails To Agree On COVID-19 Relief; Passes Two-Day Bill To Avoid Shutdown

Congress stumbled again on Friday to approve a coronavirus relief deal. According to NBC News, lawmakers raced to prevent a government shutdown at midnight.

A two-day funding extension was approved by the House—320-20. The Senate approved the extension quickly.

Congress will have until Sunday midnight deadline to meet. Hopefully, they can sort out their differences over the weekend to get the highly anticipated and much needed COVID-19 relief package passed.

“Alas, we are not there yet,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. He called the bill an attempt to prevent a “pointless lapse” in funding during the negotiation period.

So far, leaders have decided on a $900 billion plan, including a $300 federal unemployment bonus, the second round of direct payments, and more funding for small businesses. It will also include money to distribute vaccines.

But on Friday, the parties reached another conflict. This time Democrats say Republicans wanted to hamstring the incoming Biden administration by stopping Federal Reserve emergency lending facilities created by the CARES ACT to protect the unstable economy.

Democrats say the lending is a crucial part of responding effectively to an economic crisis.

A senior Democratic aide stated, “an agreement was in sight to deliver aid to the American people until Sen. Toomey and Republicans inserted an eleventh-hour purely political, unrelated provision to tie Biden’s hands and risk throwing the economy into a tailspin.”

But Sen. Toomey of Pennsylvania says the matter is his “top priority” and argued that the lending program was a temporary program that was to cease its operations by the end of 2020.

“We were in a very, very dangerous moment with respect to financial markets that were not functioning. And so these programs were stood up to revive these private markets and they were remarkably successful in that purpose,” he said, describing his stance as “a Republican Senate consensus position.”

McConnell is optimistic about the situation, saying, “I am even more optimistic now than I was last night that a bipartisan, bicameral framework for a major rescue package is close at hand. Live I’ve said, the Senate will be right here until an agreement is passed, whenever that may be.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, joined McConnell to say they planned to couple a coronavirus relief package with a must-pass $1.4 trillion funding bill.

There will be no votes on Saturday, but the House will adjourn Sunday at noon.

According to some aides, the funding bill is close to being approved. It’s the COVID-19 relief that is causing the holdup.