 "US Congress averts shutdown; fight continues over Covid pandemic aid")
Congress swiftly passed a two-day stopgap spending bill on Friday night, averting a partial government shutdown and buying time for frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost USD 1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package.
The virus aid talks remain on track, both sides said, but closing out final disagreements is proving difficult.
The House passed the temporary funding bill by a 320-60 vote as lawmakers headed for a Sunday session. The Senate approved the bill by voice vote almost immediately afterward, sending it to President Donald Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said both sides remain intent on closing the deal, even as Democrats launched a concerted campaign to block an effort by Republicans to rein in emergency Federal Reserve lending powers. The Democrats said the GOP proposal would deprive President-elect Joe Biden of crucial tools to manage the economy.
It appeared unlikely that there would be a deal reached Friday night, lawmakers and aides said.
Democrats came out swinging at a key obstacle: a provision by conservative Sen. Pat Toomey that would close down more than USD 400 billion in potential Federal Reserve lending powers established under a relief bill in March.
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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is shutting down the programmes at the end of December, but Toomey's language goes further, by barring the Fed from restarting the lending next year, and Democrats say the provision would tie Biden's hands and put the economy at risk.
"As we navigate through an unprecedented economic crisis, it is in the interests of the American people to maintain the Fed's ability to respond quickly and forcefully," said Biden economic adviser Brian Deese.
"Undermining that authority could mean less lending to Main Street businesses, higher unemployment and greater economic pain across the nation."
The key Fed programs at issue provided loans to small and mid-sized businesses and bought state and local government bonds, making it easier for those governments to borrow, at a time when their finances are under pressure from the pandemic.
The Fed would need the support of the Treasury Department to restart the programs, which Biden's Treasury secretary nominee, Janet Yellen, a former Fed chair, would likely provide. Treasury could also provide funds to backstop those programmes without congressional approval and could ease the lending requirements.
That could encourage more lending under the programs, which have seen only limited use so far.
The battle obscured progress on other elements of the hoped-for agreement After being bogged down for much of Thursday, negotiators turned more optimistic, though the complexity of finalizing the remaining issues and drafting agreements in precise legislative form was proving daunting.
The central elements appeared in place: more than USD 300 billion in aid to businesses; an USD 300-per-week bonus federal jobless benefit and renewal of soon-to-expire state benefits; USD600 direct payments to individuals; vaccine distribution funds and money for renters, schools, the Postal Service and people needing food aid.
House lawmakers were told they wouldn't have to report to work on Saturday but that a Sunday session was likely. The Senate will be voting on nominations on Saturday.
The pending bill is the first significant legislative response to the pandemic since the landmark CARES Act passed virtually unanimously in March, delivering USD 1.8 trillion in aid, more generous $600 per week bonus jobless benefits and USD 1,200 direct payments to individuals.
The CARES legislation passed at a moment of great uncertainty and unprecedented shutdowns aimed at stopping the coronavirus, but after that, many Republicans focused more on loosening social and economic restrictions as the key to recovery instead of more taxpayer-funded aid.
Now, Republicans are motivated chiefly to extend business subsidies and some jobless benefits, and provide money for schools and vaccines.
Democrats have focused on bigger economic stimulus measures and more help for those struggling economically during the pandemic. The urgency was underscored Thursday by the weekly unemployment numbers, which revealed that 885,000 people applied for jobless benefits last week, the highest weekly total since September.
The emerging package falls well short of the $2 trillion-plus Democrats were demanding this fall before the election, but Biden is eager for an aid package to prop up the economy and help the jobless and poor. While he says more economic stimulus will be needed early next year, some Republicans say the current package may be the last.
"If we address the critical needs right now, and things improve next year as the vaccine gets out there and the economy starts to pick up again, you know, there may be less of a need," said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.
Most economists, however, strongly support additional economic stimulus as necessary to keep businesses and households afloat through what is widely anticipated to be a tough winter.
Many forecast the economy could shrink in the first three months of 2021 without more help. Standard & Poor's said in a report Tuesday that the economy would be 1.5 percentage points smaller in 2021 without more aid.