Washington, United States.
the United States Congress reached an agreement Saturday night on the Federal Reserve’s role in supporting the economy during the pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reported, paving the way for a vote on a $ 900 billion plan in aid for Americans.
The agreement would maintain the central bank’s ability to establish emergency loan programs without congressional approval, according to the newspaper. But the Fed would need approval to restart existing programs under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) enacted in March, once they expire later this year.
Republicans sought to limit the Fed’s ability to lend to businesses and other institutions. They say Democrats were trying to use the legislation to create a “bribe fund” for local and state governments they control.
For Democrats, restricting the Fed’s powers could worsen the fiscal crisis and hamper the new Biden administration’s ability to stimulate the troubled U.S. economy.
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The lack of agreement threatened the temporary closure of government, a scenario that is not unheard of in a divided Washington, but which this year would have been disastrous due to the deteriorating economy and record numbers of daily deaths due to covid- 19.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Democratic minority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, said Congress could vote on the proposal Sunday.
For his part, a spokesman for the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, He assured the newspaper that congressmen could now “start closing the rest of the package to provide the relief that families, workers and businesses so desperately need.”
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Before the deal was reported, President Donald Trump tweeted, “Why isn’t Congress giving our people a stimulus bill?”
A plan to support companies in crisis and the unemployed is considered essential to strengthen the economy that has suffered from the crisis caused by the pandemic.
This should include measures for the distribution and logistics of coronavirus vaccines, as well as additional unemployment benefits of $ 300 per week, and direct checks on families of $ 600, half of the amount granted last March. under the CARES law.