Congress Funds Federal Government through December 11, 2020
President Trump signed a short-term funding bill into law early Thursday, averting a government shutdown. The bill extends current funding levels and keeps the federal government open through December 11. The House of Representatives passed the funding bill on September 22 and the Senate on September 30. It’s worth noting that the House passed 10 of the 12 annual appropriations bills this year, but the Senate failed to approve any of its bills, even at the committee level.
It’s expected that Congress will resume budget negotiations after the presidential election. By passing the short-term spending bill, congressional leaders will now have more than two months to either negotiate a new deal by mid-December — which would increase agency budgets for the remainder of fiscal year 2021 — or pass another stopgap bill to provide government funding into the beginning of next year.
Both House and Senate leaders have said they want to pass a bipartisan appropriations package before the December 11 deadline.
No Breakthrough in COVID-19 Emergency Relief Negotiations
Talks this week between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have resulted in no immediate breakthrough on a deal for a new pandemic relief package. On Thursday, the House approved a $2.2 trillion Democrat-authored plan that did nothing to bridge the gap with House and Senate Republicans. Key aspects of the bill included another round of direct $1200 payments to individuals and it would have revived the expired additional $600 weekly federal unemployment benefits. The bill would also have renewed the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses, provided money for food security programs and included almost $500 billion in relief for states and local governments.
Democrats reduced their original COVID-19 relief proposal from a $3.4 trillion bill the House passed in May (HEROES Act), to a $2.2 trillion bill. But the legislation approved yesterday was still more than Republicans have said they could would be willing to accept, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stating that it was rife with “poison pills” that had nothing to do with pandemic relief.
Speaker Pelosi said she is reviewing documents that Treasury Secretary Mnuchin had sent her Thursday to determine where to go next with negotiations. While Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Mnuchin agreed to hold another meeting today, the talks have so far failed to resolve what’s been a key difference of $600 billion between the two sides. Sharp disagreements remain unresolved regarding other components of coronavirus relief as well. The Trump administration has rejected the scale of aid that Democrats have requested for state and local authorities, and Speaker Pelosi has insisted on excluding certain tax breaks she says benefit only the wealthy.
Hoping to bridge the gap, Secretary Mnuchin has said that President Trump instructed his negotiators “to come up significantly” from the initial $1 trillion Republican proposal. It has also been reported that Secretary Mnuchin has also offered up a proposal to Speaker Pelosi during negotiations that contains $60 billion in mortgage and rental assistance. However, there are no details to share at this time.