Capitol Report: Coronavirus aid deal easily sails through Congress, as both sides eye future fight

Congress late Monday easily cleared a second major coronavirus aid package for President Donald Trump’s signature, bringing to a close almost nine months of very public and sometimes bitter partisan haggling.

But the respite may not last long, as Democratic leaders say they plan to seek more aid after President-elect Joe Biden moves into the White House, while Republicans say the latest round of help is likely the last.

The Senate voted 91 to 7 to approve the nearly $900 billion in stimulus, delivered mainly through small-business lending programs, direct payments to households and enhanced jobless benefits. The money was part of a larger bill, totaling roughly $2.4 trillion, that also included government funding through September 2021.

In the House, lawmakers voted on the bill in two parts, with the portion including the aid passing 359 to 53, and the other portion approved 327 to 85.

“It doesn’t go all the way, but it takes us down the path, a first step,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She said states need a second round of direct federal aid to avoid laying off police, fire and health care workers, a provision that didn’t make it into the bill.

“It’s directly targeted at exactly what the country needs right now,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in an appearance on Fox News.

“If, after the new administration comes in, they want to advocate for more, we’ll take a look at it, based upon conditions in the country at that time,” he said.

Lawmakers got their first look at the text of the bill, almost 5,600 pages long, only hours ahead of vote. While several groused that was not nearly enough time to review its contents, most lawmakers were relieved to wrap up the coronavirus deal, almost nine months after the $1.7 trillion CARES Act was passed in late March.

In addition to the almost $900 billion in stimulus spending and tax breaks, the bill includes annual funding for federal agencies totaling $1.4 trillion, and a tax section with about $167 billion in extensions or revivals of temporary tax breaks and and clean energy-related tax provisions, for a rough total of about $2.4 trillion.

The package includes an extension of pandemic-related federal unemployment programs and a revival of an add-on payment for the jobless, $300 a week for 11 weeks. It includes another round of direct payments to households, at $600 per individual and child, and ensures families with mixed legal citizenship status will be eligible for those payments.

Trump is expected to sign the bill. In an appearance on CNBC, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the direct payments could head out the door as early as next week.

Also see: How much will you get with new stimulus checks and additional federal unemployment benefits?

It includes $284 billion for a second round of the Paycheck Protection Program, which provided forgivable loans to small businesses, and $15 billion in grants targeted at live entertainment venues and promoters, as well performing arts groups and operators of movie theaters and museums.

Another $82 billion would go to schools and colleges to help them cope with the pandemic and retrofit their facilities to make them safer.

The deal includes a variety of provisions aimed at helping individuals and families who have been hit hard financially by the pandemic. Federal food aid and child nutrition would get an extra $13 billion. Another $25 billion would go toward rental assistance and a moratorium on evictions would be extended.

Read: Here’s how a dispute over the Fed’s emergency powers almost sank the stimulus package

Even items seemingly unrelated to the pandemic made it into the deal. A bipartisan plan to curtail unexpected “surprise” medical billing was included, as were tax breaks for clean energy and an expansion of Pell grants for college students. A temporary provision allowing for full tax deductibility of business meals was projected to cost the government $6.3 billion in revenue over three years.

But while Monday night’s vote marked the end of on-again, off-again negotiations involving Pelosi, McConnell and Mnuchin over several months, lawmakers and a Biden White House could head back to the negotiating table early in 2021.

Read: ‘This is probably it for a while’: Hard road foreseen for further stimulus as Biden presses for more aid

Several relief programs aimed at easing the hit to households from the pandemic are scheduled to wind down in coming months, likely prompting Democrats to try to extend them. The moratorium on evictions in the bill expires at the end of January, while several pandemic-related jobless benefits expire in mid-March and the revived PPP’s lending authority expires at the end of March.

In addition, two issues were ultimately left out of Monday’s bill and could reemerge in an new negotiation — increased COVID-19 liability protections for businesses and nonprofits, which Republicans sought, and direct aid to state, local and tribal governments, a Democratic priority.

McConnell said protection from meritless lawsuits against small businesses and non-profits was a must-have in any future talks.

“If there is another coronavirus relief bill after the first of the year, I’m going insist that liability protection for these universities and health care providers is a part of it,” he said.

“This bill cannot and will not be the final word on congressional relief from the coronavirus pandemic. This is an emergency, survival package,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.

“And when we come back in January, our No. 1 job will be to fill in the gaps left by the bill, and then get the economy moving with strong, federal input.”

Republican Sen. John Thune, speaking to reporters last week, warned Democrats against assuming there would be another bite at the apple, whether Republicans retain control of the Senate after a pair of Georgia races are decided on Jan. 5, or even if they have to filibuster legislation in the minority.

“I think the incoming administration is viewing it as something that they can do now and then they can come back at this next year, a lot of this  probably depends on what happens in Georgia,” he said.

“But even there, you know, it’s going to take 60 votes to do anything in the Senate.”

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December 22, 2020 at 05:45PM

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