The House approved a one-week extension to government funding, as the bipartisan group behind the $908 billion COVID-19 stimulus plan says it's 'working around the clock'
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- The House voted by a large margin to extend the deadline for a government spending bill — and with it, a COVID-19 stimulus package — by one week.
- Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a congressman behind the bipartisan $908 billion stimulus plan, told The New York Times the group will be "working around the clock" to solve remaining issues.
- The White House, backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has launched a competing $916 billion plan that departs significantly on key issues such as unemployment benefits.
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The House voted to approve a week-long extension to government funding negotiations on Wednesday, as lawmakers continued to tussle over key details of a COVID-19 stimulus package.
The Senate is expected to approve the deadline extension on Thursday, which was passed by the House 343 to 67 - averting a government shutdown that was due Saturday morning.
As the clock ticks, lawmakers are working to close points of difference in both the overall spending bill, and are making what has become a highly contentious effort to agree the scale and detail of a separate bill for COVID-19 relief.
There are now two main proposals for COVID-19 stimulus with mainstream support:
- A $908 billion proposal crafted by a bipartisan group that includes $180 billion in unemployment insurance, plus support for state and local governments, schools, and healthcare providers, as well as funding for the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. It has the backing of several GOP figures and leading Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
- A $916 billion proposal from the White House that includes $600 stimulus checks, money for state and local governments, "robust" corporate liability protections, and a much lower level - $40 billion - of unemployment insurance spending. It has the backing of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
The White House proposal was launched by Mnuchin just over a week after the bipartisan group unveiled its plan, and just as the bipartisan plan was gaining some momentum on both sides of the aisle.
Pelosi and Schumer dismissed the White House proposal immediately as undermining bipartisan progress, saying in a joint statement: "The President's proposal must not be allowed to obstruct the bipartisan Congressional talks that are under way."
But there are significant disagreements to be resolved in the bipartisan proposal.
Corporate liability protections - favored by the GOP - and the Democratic Party's wish for a higher level of state and government aid remain the two main sticking points.
Nonetheless, negotiators indicated an agreement from both sides would still be possible in time.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat behind the bipartisan negotiations, told The New York Times: "We'll be working around the clock until we solve the liability and worker protection issue."
"That's really the last remaining hurdle. We have no choice but to get it done."
Gottheimer also told CBS News: "We are literally on the five yard line now."
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican also involved in the bipartisan talks, told The Times: "We are still working together on this ... The possibilities are there to resolve this and to resolve this in a way that makes sense and gains support."
"One way or another, we'll get it done," Pelosi said on Wednesday, according to The Times.
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