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Congress is barreling toward a rare weekend session as lawmakers race to wrap up a sweeping agreement to fund the government and provide badly needed coronavirus relief, The Hill reported. Leadership is homing in on a deal that would attach roughly $900 billion in coronavirus relief to a $1.4 trillion bill to fund the government until Oct. 1, 2021, in what is the last major piece of legislation Congress needs to pass before it wraps up its work for the year. But lawmakers appear poised to drive over Friday night’s funding cliff, when the government will shut down at least temporarily without new legislation. Even if talks wrap by Friday night, it’s expected to take days for Congress to pass it. “There’s still just a lot of loose ends we’re trying to tie down.... It’s a little bit of whack-a-mole, whack it here and something else pops up. There’s a lot of interaction between the moving parts of all this,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). Congress had been expected to depart for the year Friday, as lawmakers itch to get out of town for the holidays. But leadership is warning rank-and-file members to expect to be marooned in Washington through at least the weekend as talks drag on. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned senators to stay in town to vote on nominations, saying the chamber would be “productive.” Read more. 

A new potential roadblock to a $900 billion coronavirus economic relief bill emerged in the U.S. Congress yesterday as some Senate Republicans insisted on language ensuring that expiring Federal Reserve lending programs cannot be revived, Reuters reported. Both parties were scrambling yesterday to strike a deal on a new compromise aid package. They have set aside Democratic demands for a new funding stream for state and local governments and Republican demands that companies be shielded from coronavirus-related lawsuits. But Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) wants to ensure that the Fed and Treasury are stripped of the authority to restore pandemic lending facilities that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will allow to expire on Dec. 31, including the Main Street program for mid-size businesses and facilities for municipal bond issuers and corporate credit and asset-backed securities. Read more. 

In related news, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said that he will go to the floor today to ask for a vote on his proposal to provide a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks, The Hill reported. “Tomorrow I will go to the Senate floor to ask for an up or down vote on my bill to provide a direct payment of $1200 to working Americans, $2400 for couples, $500 for kids,” Hawley said in a tweet. He’s also teamed up with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to try to get it passed by the end of the year as part of a sweeping agreement, which is still being negotiated, to fund the government and provide long-stalled coronavirus relief. Under the Senate rules any one senator can ask for a vote, but any one senator can object. Read more. 

After months of stalemate, congressional leaders yesterday were on the verge of cementing a roughly $900 billion stimulus deal to deliver emergency aid to individuals and companies devastated by the toll of the worsening pandemic, racing to finish the details and stave off a government shutdown on Friday, the New York Times reported. The measure, which has been under discussion for months as the coronavirus has ravaged the economy, is expected to provide a new round of direct payments to millions of Americans as well as additional unemployment benefits, food assistance and rental aid. It would prop up sputtering businesses with federally backed loans and provide funding for schools, hospitals and the distribution of a just-approved vaccine. While the agreement was not yet final, Republicans and Democrats alike signaled that they were ready to coalesce around the main elements. It was unclear when a final agreement would be reached, as lawmakers and staff haggled over what House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) referred to as “just the fine details we’ve got to get done.” The measure, which builds off a $748 billion bill proposed by a bipartisan group of moderates this week, is expected to include $25 billion to establish a program that would provide emergency rental assistance to families affected by the pandemic, as well as billions for vaccine development and distribution, broadband and schools across the country. Negotiators were still discussing the possible inclusion of House legislation that provides funds to distribute to states and cities and to fully cover the costs of emergency work during the pandemic. They were also still haggling over an expansion and extension of unemployment benefits and how long they would last. The agreement is expected to revive lapsed enhanced unemployment benefits at about $300 a week, half of the original benefit approved in March, which lapsed over the summer. In addition to the jobless aid, the plan would provide a one-time direct payment to Americans, expected to be about $600 per person, also half the amount provided under the March stimulus law.

Top congressional leaders said they were coming closer to reaching an agreement on another coronavirus relief package, broadcasting progress after months of fitful efforts to approve more aid, the Wall Street Journal reported. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) met repeatedly yesterday, the group’s first meeting in weeks. Lawmakers are hurrying to craft another aid package this week, before the holidays and the expiration of several key aid provisions. The talks were held one day after a bipartisan group of rank-and-file lawmakers largely wrapped up their work on a compromise coronavirus relief proposal. That agreement included an extension of unemployment insurance and funding for schools, vaccine distribution and small businesses, among other provisions. But the bipartisan coalition came up short in its efforts to reach a broad deal on the thorniest issue: liability protections for businesses and other entities operating during the pandemic. Instead, lawmakers released a $748 billion bill bundling together many of the less-controversial proposals but excluding liability protections backed by Republicans and $160 billion in state and local aid sought by Democrats.

Airlines would get $17 billion in U.S. government aid to recall furloughed workers and help cover payrolls through March under a bipartisan pandemic relief package unveiled in Congress on Monday that won immediate backing from an industry group, Bloomberg News reported. Airlines “enthusiastically support” the proposal, the trade group Airlines for America said in a press release. Carriers will attempt to bring back workers who have been laid off if it passes, “but that becomes increasingly challenging with each passing day,” the group said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked top congressional leaders in both parties to meet yesterday to discuss COVID-19 relief and a crucial government spending package, congressional aides said, in what could be a make-or-break moment for a grand bargain after months of stalemate. The $748 billion bill was put forth by a dozen senators and has the support of 50 House members. Some Democrats in the group suggested voting on the bill even though it doesn’t have a top Democratic priority of state and local aid. Carriers are losing more than two-thirds of passengers compared with 2019 levels due to COVID-19 and cut tens of thousands of workers after initial government assistance aimed at paying salaries expired on Oct. 1.

Warren Buffett urged Congress to extend the Paycheck Protection Program to help the millions of small businesses that have become “collateral damage” in the fight against COVID-19, Bloomberg News reported. “We need another injection to complete the job,” Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said in a CNBC interview yesterday. “Congress is debating that right now, and I hope very much that they extend the PPP.” Buffett argued that small businesses need more stimulus now to help them weather the rest of the coronavirus shutdowns. He was joined in the interview by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO David Solomon, who argued that small businesses need more help even as the pandemic’s finish line is visible, with vaccines beginning to be distributed. “The steps that the Fed and Treasury took to put liquidity into the market have certainly helped large businesses,” Solomon said. “But small businesses don’t have that access.”

A bipartisan group of lawmakers released proposed COVID-19 relief legislation that may provide momentum for breaking a months-long impasse, by separating out coronavirus liability protections and state aid — the two most contentious and partisan items, Bloomberg News reported. After Republicans and Democrats failed to come to a consensus on a liability shield for employers, the group that has been working on a bipartisan compromise released two separate legislative proposals. One is for $748 billion and includes areas of accord like vaccine funding and aid to small businesses, and the other wraps the two most contentious items, including $160 billion for regional authorities. Senator Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in that chamber and one of the negotiators, said that state and local aid and liability are both “critically” important but said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should allow votes on the $748 billion consensus measure in coming days. He said the aid it contains is “desperately needed.” McConnell has for days said that the two biggest roadblocks should be set aside, with lawmakers proceeding with the remainder — which includes aid for small businesses, help for the unemployed, funding for vaccine distribution and rescue money for airlines and other transportation providers. If endorsed by Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a separate vote on the $748 billion in COVID-19 relief could offer the first bipartisan backing of both houses of Congress for a stimulus bill since the spring — after months of stalemate. Pelosi and Schumer have argued that the funding for states and localities is too important to allow consideration for a more targeted bill. The bipartisan group’s $748 billion package includes $300 billion for help to small businesses, including through the Paycheck Protection Program, $180 billion for additional unemployment insurance, $45 billion for transportation including airlines and $82 billion for education. Other provisions include $25 billion for housing assistance, $16 billion for vaccine distribution and testing, and $10 billion each for child care, the U.S. Postal Service and rural broadband. Also offered is $25 billion in emergency rental aid and an extension in a moratorium on evictions to Jan. 31. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have warned about the potential bankruptcy of smaller enterprises across the country without a renewal of the Paycheck Protection Program. Read more.

Click here to access the bill text of the Bipartisan COVID-19 Emergency Relief Act of 2020. 

Click here for bill text of the Bipartisan State and Local Support and Small Business Protection Act of 2020. 

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is splitting its $908 billion coronavirus relief proposal into two packages as it prepares to release text today, The Hill reported. The plan will include a $160 billion proposal that ties together the two most controversial elements: more money for state and local governments and protections against coronavirus-related lawsuits. The second proposal will total $748 billion and include ideas that garner broader support, including another round of Paycheck Protection Program funding for small businesses, unemployment benefits, and more money for vaccine distribution, testing and schools. Members of GOP leadership, while saying the bipartisan group has been helpful at finding common ground, argue that a final agreement will need to be hashed out by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Democrats view state and local money as a top priority, and the Senate GOP leader has long called including protections against coronavirus lawsuits a "red line." Read more. 

In related news, ongoing revelations about how big businesses and chains were able to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from the Paycheck Protection Program are shaping discussions in Congress about which employers should be eligible if another $300 billion is approved under another proposed stimulus package. Two leading senators on small-business issues, Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), agree that a new round of funding should permit businesses to receive a second PPP payment. More funding would also likely require businesses to show that they’ve lost income due to the pandemic to receive loans, which turn into grants if used properly. Read more. 

Additionally, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), indicated yesterday that Democratic House leadership was open to accepting a COVID-19 relief deal with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that doesn't include aid to state and local governments, The Hill reported. "I mean, I think we need to get an agreement, and we need to get this bill passed," Hoyer told CNN's Abby Phillip during an interview on "Inside Politics." He added, "If we can get [state and local assistance], we want to get it, but we want to get aid out to the people who are really, really struggling and are at great risk." Read more.