Congress on brink of deal on $900 billion relief package after resolving key dispute - CNN

After days of tense negotiations over a provision pushed by Sen. Pat Toomey to pare back the role of the central bank's emergency lending authority, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Pennsylvania Republican reached a deal in principle over the provision, aides said. Now, the two sides will draft the legislative language to ensure it reflects the outlines of the deal.

"We're getting very close, very close," Schumer said as he left the Capitol, predicting the House and Senate would vote to approve the package Sunday -- just hours before the government runs out of money at midnight.

The exact details of the agreement still need to be seen. And there are hurdles awaiting congressional leaders as they push for quick passage of the $900 billion relief deal, which is expected to include $300 per week in jobless benefits, direct payments of $600 for individuals, $330 billion for small business loans, more than $80 billion for schools, and billions for vaccine distribution.

Lawmakers have yet to see any details of the relief plan -- nor have they seen bill text of the massive $1.4 trillion spending package that must pass Congress to keep the government open past Sunday. Any senator can delay a vote for days if they are dissatisfied with the process or policy. Plus it's uncertain how President Donald Trump will respond, given he's been disengaged from the talks and consumed with his election loss.

Still, the late agreement over the disputed provision likely clears the way for a hectic Sunday where the leaders of the four caucuses will brief their members, attempt to schedule quick votes and jam the bill through Congress in a matter of hours — a process almost unheard of for a bill of this size and scope.

With Americans eager for relief, impatience is growing in the ranks as both sides recognize a deal must be reached Sunday or the talks could collapse completely.

Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said that a deal will either be reached Sunday on a compromise, or one side needs to make a "hard decision" about how to proceed.

"This cannot go on," Coons said.

Republicans argue that the Fed's emergency lending program, created under the March CARES Act, needs to be wound down as envisioned by that law, saying leaving it open would amount to a slush fund for the incoming Biden administration.

But Democrats argue that the authority is essential to continue to prop up the economy and say that the provision to wind it down -- pushed chiefly by Toomey -- would tie the hands of President-elect Joe Biden's team.

"After going back and forth all day with Leader Schumer, Sen. Toomey has agreed to drop the broad language in his proposal that would have prevented the Fed Chair from establishing similar facilities in the future to the ones created in March," a senior Democratic aide said. "Compromise language is being finalized and, now that this obstacle has been cleared, a final agreement on an emergency relief package is significantly closer."

But Republicans also declared victory.

"This agreement rescinds more than $429 billion in unused CARES Act funds; definitively ends the CARES Act lending facilities by December 31, 2020; stops these facilities from being restarted; and forbids them from being duplicated without congressional approval," Toomey spokesman Steve Kelly said in a statement. "This agreement will preserve Fed independence and prevent Democrats from hijacking these programs for political and social policy purposes."

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

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