Frustrations are boiling over as Congress moves closer to a midnight shutdown deadline with a number of disagreements still hindering a bipartisan deal on a $900 billion coronavirus aid package.
Democrats are blaming GOP Sen. Pat Toomey's insistence on winding down a key Federal Reserve program as the primary impediment to finishing negotiations. Conservatives are raising alarm about new spending. And though there's general agreement on a new round of direct payments of $600, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said unless he sees bill text containing significant direct payments to Americans, he will not allow a short-term funding bill to pass.
“We’ve been in the dark for days on end, we have absolutely no idea what’s actually in this package … so I’m not willing to allow a [spending bill] to go through until I know what’s actually in the package. Direct assistance has got to be in there,” Hawley said, dinging GOP leaders for not briefing senators more directly on what’s in the current package.
“It’s beginning to reach the point of absurdity. It’s time for leadership to put on the table what they’ve got, it’s time for them to brief members on what they’ve got,” Hawley continued after Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) objected to his bid for a new round of $1,200 checks. “Here we are up against a deadline with a totally self-inflicted wound. I can’t think of anything nice to say so I’ll stop there.”
Though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday that he's "even more optimistic now than I was last night that a bipartisan, bicameral framework for a major rescue package is very close at hand," the finger-pointing at Toomey (R-Pa.) in the frantic negotiations and complaints by Hawley suggest a tough road ahead for congressional leaders. In another potentially dire sign, Speaker Nancy Pelosi postponed her regular weekly press conference, scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Despite the last minute disputes, lawmakers say they're hopeful a deal is still within reach.
"This is just the normal pain associated with getting to a final solution," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters. "This is a situation where everyone wants to get to a solution, they also want the very best deal they can. It's narrowing, and I think we'll get there."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) huddled Friday afternoon to talk about a stopgap bill to keep the government open after midnight. And lawmakers said they've been told to hang around for votes later Friday night, with some still hoping for an 11th-hour breakthrough on a relief package.
“I do think there’s a possibility of votes this evening on not only the CR but I hope that Covid relief bill comes online," said Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.).
But that hasn't stopped the background blame game from continuing in full force in the meantime.
A senior Democratic aide said "an agreement was in sight" until Toomey and the GOP made a new ask on the Fed's emergency lending programs. Toomey has pushed for similar provisions since July, but Democrats argue his latest proposal is more restrictive. Republicans are concerned the emergency lending program will be used to help state and local governments, which they have repeatedly objected to.
The current version of Toomey's plan would prevent the emergency lending program established by the CARES Act from continuing next year and would also bar the central bank from starting any similar program, according to a draft viewed by POLITICO. The Federal Reserve has said it would like the emergency programs to continue operating until the economic crisis has ended.
"The Toomey provision would be an unprecedented change to the law to strip the Fed chair of one of their most important tools to quickly respond to any future economic crisis," the Democratic aide said.
A Republican aide shot back that the Democrats' comments are "funny when you consider not nine months ago, these facilities constituted a slush fund for Republicans to enrich their billionaire friends." And Toomey told reporters on Thursday that this provision is "the most important thing" to him in the bill and that his effort was not "an effort to in any way hamstring the Biden administration or weaken our economy."
Brian Deese, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to be National Economic Council director, released a statement Friday afternoon urging negotiators to keep the Fed program.
The battle is an ominous sign for one of the most pivotal days of Congress this year. That's because Congress woke up on Friday morning with a major to-do-list: preventing a government shutdown at midnight and clinching the $900 billion coronavirus deal.
A shutdown that starts at midnight Friday and drags into the weekend — while embarrassing for Congress — likely won’t have much of an effect. But a shutdown that drags into early next week gets more complicated and could shut down services and cause furloughs.
While congressional leaders have struck a deal on the broad outlines of a package that would deliver $600 stimulus checks to many individuals and children, $325 billion for small businesses and a $300 weekly unemployment boost, finalizing the deal has proven stubbornly difficult.
Johnson raged against those outlines as he blocked Hawley's proposal, suggesting conservatives will not appreciate more than $2 trillion in spending being dropped in their laps at the last minute.
"I'm certainly lodging my objection to what's barreling through here. The train has left the station on the package that's being negotiated right now that is way too big," Johnson said on the Senate floor.
McConnell once again vowed that the Senate would not leave without a deal on a spending package that will marry the coronavirus bill with a $1.4 trillion omnibus government funding measure through September. He said Friday that the four leaders have been “working around the clock."
That pledge and Congress’ unfinished business sets up a breakneck Friday of negotiating on the coronavirus and a possible attempt at a short-term funding bill to avoid a lapse in government funding. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said several different sizes of a short-term spending bill were being considered.
Regardless of what happens with the immediate government funding obstacle, both chambers of Congress are set to work through the weekend to finish off the lame duck session. It’s a fitting finale for a Congress that opened with the longest government shutdown in history.
In addition to the Fed fight, disaster relief, direct payment eligibility and money for entertainment venues were also among the final sticking points for negotiators. Then there’s the issue of drafting hundreds of pages of legislative text and getting it through the House and the Senate, where one individual senator can slow everything down.
Sarah Ferris, Caitlin Emma and Victoria Guida contributed to this report.
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