Appropriations Update: Congress Considers Another Stopgap Measure as Negotiations Continue

With a government shutdown looming at the end of this week, lawmakers are scrambling to fund the government and approve emergency COVID-19 aid. The omnibus government funding bill is expected to also serve as the vehicle for two COVID-19 relief packages. The $1.4 trillion spending and COVID-19 relief bill must be finalized or all non-emergency government services will be shut down and thousands of federal employees will be furloughed beginning at midnight on Friday, December 18.

Today, top Senate Republicans indicated a “days-long” stopgap government funding bill may be needed to prevent a shutdown and allow talks, primarily regarding COVID-19 relief, to continue.

"If we need to further extend the Friday funding deadline before final legislation can pass in both chambers, I hope we'll extend it for a very, very short window of time," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on the Senate floor.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told reporters on Wednesday that he would approve of a stopgap measure to avert a shutdown, saying, “I'm against shutting down government… I think it is a stark admission of failure.”

Republican and Democratic lawmakers are negotiating a COVID-19 relief package as the pandemic continues through the holiday season. Lawmakers are hopeful about a $908 billion COVID-19 aid package that would offer support during the pandemic. This aid will be divided into two distinct bills to be voted on separately.

The first bill is a $748 billion proposal including aid for small businesses, the jobless, and COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

The second bill will include coronavirus-related liability protections for business, a Republican priority, and $160 billion for state and local governments, a Democratic priority. The second measure also extends provisions expanding unemployment insurance set to expire on December 26th for 16 weeks and would add a $300 per week federal jobless benefit supplement for four months.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s spokesman Drew Hammill said of the negotiations, “The Speaker believes, at a time when the virus is surging, that the need for state and local funding is even more important, especially given the states’ responsibility for distributing and administering the vaccine. Health care workers and first responders are risking their lives to save lives and at the same time, are at the risk of losing their jobs without state and local support.”

Members of Congress are still contending over which states should receive large-scale federal aid, like that offered in spring of 2020, and which states should not. There is also division over whether Americans should receive another round of direct payments.

Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) offered his thoughts on the situation, “We have a history now of going to the 11th hour and 59th minute on all of this and it’s very unfortunate. That’s where we are.”