With less than two days left on the clock, legislators are now discussing the possibility of extending the shutdown deadline, again, to allow more time for negotiations to close the deal and push through the House and Senate. The two issues have been tied together ever since, with leaders seeking to link the relief deal to a 4 4.1 trillion fund to keep the government open next September.
So unless things change quickly, the final consideration of the giant move could slip over the weekend or early next week.
House Majority Leader Stanley Hoyer said Wednesday he thinks it may be necessary to buy time to finalize the deal, a stopgap funding bill or CR, to prevent a shutdown known as a sustained resolution.
“The answer is definitely yes … I don’t want to shut down the government,” he said. “If someone asks me, would you support a CR, well, what I don’t support is shutting down the government.”
The consensus on Capitol Hill is that there will be a relief deal after months of fighting and stalemate. But Congress is now stuck in a wait-and-see game as the top four congressional leaders and the White House try to make the final print and iron out the final details.
Details of what’s in the plan began to emerge on Wednesday, though nothing is final until the legislator’s text comes out.
Once the deal is unveiled, congressional leaders will have to coralize the rank-and-file and move as quickly as possible to bring the law into the structure of both chambers.
What is part of the urgency to participate: the runoff race of the Georgia Senate in January which will determine the next majority. On the phone with his conference on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell often noted how the issue of direct payments has become a major issue in the race.
“Kelly and David are getting armed,” McConnell said of his GOP colleagues, Sense. Kelly Loffler and David Purdue.
Opposition from both parties
Both parties agreed that something had to go through, they would almost certainly get the votes needed for approval. But they will get pressure from both sides, and the criticism has already begun.
Progressive legislators have expressed concern that the size of the stimulus probes may not be large enough.
St. Bernie Sanders, Vermont Independent, warned in a floor speech Wednesday that a p-filling contract would be unfit to meet the devastating consequences of an epidemic.
“There’s a lot in this bill that’s good, but because of the provision for the crisis we’re facing, it’s not going anywhere,” Sanders said.
Earlier Wednesday, Sanders, who demanded a 1,200 check, praised the emerging proposal for inclusion in the stimulus investigation, although it is expected to be less than he would push for it, but said he would demand more.
There will also be GOP concerns about price tagging.
Republican Sen. of Wisconsin. Ron Johnson said “maybe” if he had a lot of money.
“I’m probably against it,” Ohio’s G.O.P. Rep. Said Jim Jordan.
If legislators pass a stop-gap bill to prevent the government from shutting down, this will be the second time in a short period of time.
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