The aid package was to be coupled with $1.4 trillion in backstop for public spending. Included are the 12 annual licensing laws to fund each federal department and social safety net programs, as well as a number of legislative additions attached to legislators to ensure their priorities can be passed before Congress adjourns the year. Even if negotiators reach an agreement on Wednesday, it could be difficult to resolve it by Congress by the Friday midnight deadline. The House of Representatives could vote as early as Thursday and waive its usual three-day rule for reviewing legislation. The Senate would then have to seek the unanimous approval of its 100 members to overcome procedural hurdles and move to a final vote before the deadline. A call from Sanders or another senator could lead to a brief government shutdown unless lawmakers agree to another short-term funding bill. Tensions over the new package erupted in the final phase of negotiations with Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Joe Manchin III (D-W. Go.) participated in a heated exchange during an internal conference call Wednesday afternoon, which several consultants described as stormy. Sanders has pushed for the package to include more robust stimulus controls. Manchin said unemployment benefits are more important for approving a bipartisan compromise that ridiculed Sanders as inadequate.

Because lawmakers are trying to get the bill through quickly, Sanders` opposition could be enough to blow up the entire deal and infuriate members trying to enact it. WASHINGTON — Senior lawmakers worked Sunday to finalize coronavirus aid legislation after reaching a compromise Saturday night on a major obstacle that maintained the expected $900 billion package. In a phone call Saturday night with Democratic senators, Schumer hinted that Toomey had said he was willing to change his proposal to reach a compromise and that talks would continue overnight, according to two people on call who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said that if a deal was reached on Saturday night, the Senate could vote on a final deal as early as Sunday, although others have expressed doubts that the bill can be drafted so quickly and passed by the House of Representatives. ”Now that Democrats have accepted a version of Senator Toomey`s important language, we can begin shutting down the rest of the package to provide much-needed assistance to families, workers and businesses,” a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, said Saturday night. Many other amendments will follow, and it is unclear what time it will be. At a press conference on Sunday, Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stressed that because of the new Biden administration, they hope more legislative relief will come in the future, even if the Democrats fail to win a majority in the Senate. It is expected that the addition of stimulus measures will also be done in part by reducing the amount of unemployment benefits. Congressional leaders have told other lawmakers that they plan to shorten the duration of unemployment benefits by one month as part of the bipartisan plan, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to share private remarks.

This could mean that the extended services would expire at the end of March. Such a timeline could force the new Biden administration to act more quickly in its efforts to pass a massive stimulus package early next year. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore), the lead Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, called the cut in unemployment benefits ”Peter`s steal to pay Paul.” Lawmakers reach compromise on GOP`s proposal to reduce the Fed`s powers and pave the way for a stimulus package Lawmakers also appeared to settle a delicate dispute over whether companies that have received and issued PPP loans are allowed to deduct the costs covered by those loans on their federal tax returns. These costs would be deductible under a definitive agreement as long as a PPP beneficiary can demonstrate a loss of revenue in 2020 compared to previous years, according to a lawmaker who was informed of the agreement. Rent assistance and eviction moratorium: $25 billion in rent assistance is included, as is the establishment of a federal moratorium on evictions. As Vox`s Jerusalem Demsas previously reported, proponents have argued that at least $100 billion in rent subsidies are needed to cover current deficits. Additional measures would be needed to ensure that millions of Americans are not displaced by the end of January. An adviser to Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and a senior Democratic adviser confirmed Late Saturday that the two sides had reached an agreement on the wording of Toomey`s proposal to liquidate federal reserve credit facilities set up to deal with the crisis in March.

Toomey said on a conference call Sunday that he had agreed to restrict the wording so that it only applies to the three credit facilities set by the CARES Act. Although the text was not immediately available, the deal was to grant $600 in stimulus payments to millions of U.S. adults earning up to $75,000. It would restore the additional federal unemployment benefits lost to $300 per week for 11 weeks – both at half the amount provided for in the original Recovery Act. ”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.” The impending package is expected to include hundreds of billions of dollars in aid for struggling small businesses and unemployed Americans; Tens of billions of dollars in aid for other critical needs such as vaccine distribution and schools; and a one-time check between $600 and $700 for millions of Americans below a certain income threshold. .