The deal ends months of squabbles between Republicans and Democrats over the nature and size of legislation designed to help the country overcome a pandemic that has killed more than 317,000 Americans, infected millions and shut down dozens of businesses. “We have now agreed on a bill that will crush the virus and put money in the pockets of struggling working families,” President Nancy Pelosi wrote Sunday in a letter to Democrats detailing some details of the measure. “This emergency aid law is an important first step.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D.N.Y., told the Senate that the deal was “far from perfect” but would provide “emergency assistance” to Americans. He promised it would not be the “last word” on the COVID-19 recovery and said he would push for another bill once President-elect Joe Biden takes office. While Mr. Trump`s signature will be on the law, its impact on President-elect Joseph R. will be much greater. Biden Jr., who faces the task of managing the faltering economic recovery. Biden, who has quietly lobbied lawmakers to find a compromise that would bring at least modest help after months of congressional inaction, is expected to seek another major economic aid package after he takes office in January.
“Once this agreement goes into effect, it won`t be the last word on alleviating Congress,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader who called the deal a “down payment.” “A few moments ago, the four leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives reached an agreement. This will be another great bailout for the American people,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, announced Sunday afternoon in the Senate. Asked why so many Republicans in the Senate, but not in the House of Representatives, were willing to support the bill, McCarthy called it a “different time, another place” and accused President Nancy Pelosi of tying legislation to reconciliation — though that was something progressives had pushed for even before the bill was introduced in the House of Representatives. It was expected to merge with a sweeping catch-all measure of spending that would keep the government funded for the rest of the fiscal year, creating a $2.3 trillion giant whose passage will be The last major legislative achievement in Congress before it is adjourned for the year. The deal came after a weekend of frenetic negotiations, just hours before the government ran out of funds and two weeks before the next Congress was convened on January 3. Because Republicans insisted on keeping the overall cost of the measure below $1 trillion, it was much tighter than the $2.2 trillion stimulus package passed in March, when the toll of the pandemic was just beginning to become clear. It was far from the scope of the stimulus package that most economists deem necessary, and will ensure that Mr. Biden must quickly move on to another aid package, which he has already signaled is his first priority.
Yet even as it prepared to pass a coherent measure, Congress was at the height of its dysfunction, leaving so little time to finish it that lawmakers had to face a series of contortions to get it across the finish line. Because it took longer to convert their deal into legislation, both Houses had to pass a one-day emergency spending bill – their third such temporary extension in the last 10 days – to avoid a government shutdown while concluding the deal. In recent days, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has insisted that there will be no government shutdown due to congressional inaction. But he had to work all day Thursday to put his Republican lawmakers on a line that would allow for the swift passage of the funding bill. Congress has not adopted a comprehensive aid package since March. As the number of cases increased and the benefits decreased, Democrats and Republicans were unable to agree on another deal. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and the Republican-controlled Senate proposed their own versions of the bill, only to be rejected by the other side. Without congressional action, up to 12 million Americans would lose access to expanded and expanded unemployment benefits that expire after Christmas. A number of other important aid provisions, including a moratorium on evictions, were due to expire on 31 December. “While I wish it had been sooner, this agreement allows the approval process to move toward a final funding agreement that meets the needs of the American people,” House Supply Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro said in a statement announcing the agreement. How we got here: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday night that a deal had been reached, paving the way for a vote Thursday in the House on an ongoing resolution that keeps the government at current levels for some time. The deal also reflected a latest attempt by progressive Democrats, who have found unlikely allies in both Mr.
Trump and Senator Josh Hawley, Republicans from Missouri, to secure a more robust series of direct payments. Just before lawmakers announced a final deal, the president, who had been remarkably absent from the talks, urged Congress to reach an agreement and called for “more direct payments.” Schumer said today that he was “confident that the House will approve this measure later in the afternoon and send it to the president`s office before funding expires” at midnight tonight. “We need to be able to solve this problem,” Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said of the dispute over the Fed`s powers. “I can`t believe that all this effort and aid to millions of Americans is due to this obscure fund. That would be a terrible mess. Encouraged after the November election, a bipartisan group of moderates negotiated its own $748 billion compromise and pressured congressional leaders to redouble their efforts to reach an agreement. In the end, the two main Democrats and the two main Republicans fought on Capitol Hill with their staff and sometimes Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary, a few chaotic days of the week before Christmas for the final deal. “So far, unfortunately, we haven`t reached a final agreement,” Kentucky Republican and majority leader Senator Mitch McConnell said Friday night in the Senate. “There is no reason for federal funding to expire as we resolve our remaining differences.” “We will not have learned the lessons of our previous very urgent, very urgent and very massive aid plans,” Johnson told the Senate. “We`re just going to do more of the same thing, another trillion dollars.” Given the widespread reluctance of Republicans to pursue another round of federal spending, lawmakers have cut a number of benefits.
Dependents 17 years of age and older are not eligible for $600 direct payments, although lawmakers have agreed to provide direct cheques to people who submitted with someone who uses an individual tax identification number instead of a social security number. As congressional leaders battled over their competing priorities for another round of aid, coronavirus cases soared, millions of Americans sank into poverty, and countless businesses, restaurants, and places closed as their revenues evaporated in the midst of the pandemic. Reputation. Jared Huffman, a member of the Progressive Caucus who met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said nothing really changed during the meeting, which he called “constructive.” McCarthy signaled that he would be open to an emergency measure to fund road transportation programs that expire today, but criticized Democrats for moving from “crisis” to “crisis.” “There`s no doubt that this new deal contains comments from our Democratic colleagues — it`s nonpartisan,” Herr said.