House votes to fund government for a week amid rush to strike spending, Covid relief deals
The measure, which passed in a 343-67 vote, would keep the federal government running through Dec. 18. Many operations will shut down amid the raging pandemic if lawmakers fail to approve a funding bill before Saturday.
The legislation heads to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has indicated he aims to pass it before the deadline. The Senate could try to approve it as soon as Thursday.
McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., have said they want to attach pandemic aid measures to the full-year spending bill.
Democratic leaders hope bipartisan talks among rank-and-file lawmakers on a $908 billion coronavirus rescue package will lead to legislation that can pass both chambers of Congress. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent a $916 billion offer to Pelosi on Tuesday, but she and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rejected it because it does not include supplemental federal unemployment payments.
Covid relief talks hit another wall as Congress runs short on time to send help
A Congress that has failed for months to send aid to desperate people will now have to quickly resolve disputes to prevent millions of people from losing unemployment insurance or housing.
Democratic leaders have called bipartisan talks toward a $908 billion relief bill the best chance to craft a plan that can get through a divided Congress. Lawmakers have not yet finalized the legislation because of disagreements over legal immunity for businesses and state and local government relief.
Top Republicans have accused their counterparts of refusing to make a deal. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., rejected a $916 billion offer from the Trump administration because it included a one-time $600 direct payment but no federal unemployment insurance supplement. The bipartisan package includes a $300 weekly boost to jobless benefits.
Pelosi and Schumer also brushed off Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s proposal to scrap his demand for business and university immunity from coronavirus-related lawsuits if Democrats back off their calls for state and local aid. Democrats and many Republicans have called federal support necessary to prevent cash-crunched governments from cutting first responder and teacher jobs.
As of Wednesday, it was unclear what kind of plan could get through both the Democratic-held House and GOP-controlled Senate. Congress faces pressure to act: about 12 million people could lose unemployment benefits on the day after Christmas, and a federal eviction moratorium expires at the end of the year.
Speaking on the Senate floor Wednesday, McConnell repeatedly argued Democratic leaders have refused to strike a deal for political reasons. He even called their Tuesday response to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s relief offer “bizarre” and “schizophrenic.”
“More deflection, more delay and more suffering for innocent Americans,” he said of Democrats rejecting the White House proposal.
Reference: CNBC
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