U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leaves a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on December 18, 2020.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
The House voted Friday to prevent a two-day government shutdown, sending a temporary funding measure to a Senate where its passage is less secure.
Federal funding will expire Saturday at 12:01 a.m. ET if Congress does not pass a spending bill. The uninterrupted measure will keep the government running until Sunday until 12:01 a.m. ET Monday morning, while congressional leaders try to finalize a year-round coronavirus funding and relief package.
The Senate will have a few hours to pass the bill before government funding expires. Any senator can block the rapid passage of legislation in the chamber.
The House will meet again on Sunday, December 20 at 12:00, with the first scheduled votes before 13:00
Senators, including independents Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Republican Josh Hawley of Missouri, suggested they could delay the passage of a spending bill as they push for leadership to include a $ 1,200 direct payment in a package. help for pandemic.
Hawley, for his part, tweeted that he would not block the legislation after major Republicans assured him that a final relief agreement would include “direct assistance to working people.” Lawmakers are expected to include payments of $ 600, below the $ 1,200 checks passed as part of the CARES Act in March.
The House initially tried to pass the funding bill unanimously on Friday. However, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, opposed and forced a total vote.
The move delayed the passage of the bill by more than an hour, as Congress was working on a tight schedule to exceed the stoppage time. The House approved it in a vote of 320 to 60.
Lawmakers, for the second time this month, plan to give themselves more time to pack up a bill and spending money year-round to lift a health care system and an economy that flows under a relentless coronavirus outbreak. They already approved a one-week extension that kept the lights on until Friday.
Congress leaders have said for days that they are close to a pandemic relief agreement that was desperately needed. Still, they have failed to erase the final details of a $ 900 billion package.
Millions of Americans are waiting for help as the virus overwhelms hospitals and health care workers. Covid-19 now kills thousands of Americans every week.
New economic constraints to contain the outbreak have exacerbated the pain for people already struggling to pay for food and housing.
A Republican-backed proposal to limit the Federal Reserve’s emergency credit power now represents the main obstacle to a deal. Democrats say the move would hamper President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to respond to the ongoing economic crisis after taking office on Jan. 20.
Along with direct payments, the development plan would include a federal unemployment supplement of $ 300 per week. An expansion of the pandemic era of unemployment benefits would spread, which 12 million people would lose the day after Christmas.
It is now unclear how a federal eviction moratorium would handle the proposal. The provision expires at the end of the year, which could leave millions vulnerable to eviction.
The package would provide at least $ 300 billion in aid to small businesses. It would include money for the distribution and testing of Covid-19 vaccines, along with grants for hospitals.
It would also direct funding to schools, which have had to adapt to stay open or virtualized during the pandemic.
The bill will not address the support or liability protections of state and local governments for businesses. These issues divided Democratic and Republican leaders.
Democrats and many GOP general legislators, along with bipartisan governors, supported state and local aid needed to preserve first-aid jobs and allow officials to contain the pandemic. The Republican Party argued that legal immunity would protect small businesses from frivolous litigation.
This story is unfolding. Please check for updates again.
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