Hell week hangs over Congress

Perhaps most urgent as the United States records an estimated 200,000 cases and 2,000 deaths of coronavirus a day – the country recorded a million new cases in the first five days of December – is a new response to the devastating effects of disease on health and economy. Biparty negotiators worked throughout the weekend to finalize $ 908 billion in legislation based on their rough framework from last week, hoping to deliver the text of the bill earlier this week. . Congress has not approved a major aid package since April.

“We have a lot of work to do. And just a few days to do it,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin told ABC “This Week” on Sunday morning. “It really is a superhuman effort on our part to bring this together in time to help the American people as quickly as possible.

But one wonders whether congressional leaders will accept it given disagreements about how much to spend, where to spend it, and whether to offer companies new legal protections. Some sources doubted this weekend that the fierce round of negotiation would create a new law despite upbeat words from President Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Democrats say this bill is the starting point for negotiations, McConnell has not shown commitment, and President Donald Trump is still a question mark. Supporters of the bipartisan cadre say their effort is the only game in town.

“President Trump has indicated he will sign a $ 908 billion package. There’s only one $ 908 billion package out there, and it’s ours, ”Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La) said on“ Fox News Sunday ”of Project Outlook. law with McConnell and Trump. “The pain of the American people is at the root of all of this, and I am optimistic that these two leaders will join.

Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.), who helped lead the negotiations, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “a deal needs to be done. We have no choice now. He did. argue that spending $ 908 billion now would have a bigger impact than waiting to do something bigger until President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in.

Yet disagreements persist over aid to local governments, a must-have item for Democrats that divides Republicans, and a shield of accountability for businesses that McConnell called his red line but Democrats hate. Failure to strike a deal would embarrass Biden in his first days in office, as health and economic calamities would worsen in the absence of relief.

If Republicans and Democrats can come to an agreement, it will likely need to be included in the year-end spending bill. If the broader negotiations fail, it is also possible that a handful of expiring provisions will be incorporated into the must-have spending package, like expanding unemployment funding and a moratorium on evictions. But transportation agencies, airlines, unemployed Americans and cash-strapped states could be left out of a small deal like this.

And even government funding has become a question mark. Congress must now pass a short-term spending bill to give negotiators more time after Friday’s deadline, in part because the Senate can take several days to pass a spending bill if a senator fails. bat for a quick pass.

The Senate is aiming for roughly Dec. 18 as its adjournment date, and McConnell is still looking to confirm the candidates this week. The omnibus negotiations that would fund the government until September are still not completed and could collapse – and only produce a draft bill in the early days of Biden’s presidency.

Even the fate of the very popular National Defense Authorization Act seems uncertain. On Tuesday, the House plans to pass the final version of the NDAA, which Trump opposes because it does not repeal Section 230 or protections for tech companies, but renames the named bases for Confederate leaders . Some Republicans backing Trump’s Section 230 effort say he simply cannot fit into the defense bill and ignore his demands to include it in defense legislation.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer predicted the chamber had the votes to overturn the president’s veto, although such a scenario is not ideal for Republicans. Congress did not override any of Trump’s vetoes during his presidency, but Cassidy said on Sunday that his “inclination would be to always vote for the troops and to vote for our national security.”

Indeed, Trump could lose this one if he doesn’t give in.

“I hesitate to speculate on potential vetoes or anything, but I think he will get a strong vote from the Senate. And I hope that would be something he could sign, ”Senate Majority Whip John Thune said Thursday.