The House passed a two-day stopgap spending bill as negotiations on a coronavirus relief bill and another bill to fund the government broke down hours before the midnight Friday deadline needed to continue full operation of federal operations, CBS News reports.
Pending Senate approval, the continuing resolution will fund the federal government through Sunday. House majority leader Steny Hoyer said that the earliest a vote will be taken on a spending bill and a coronavirus relief bill would be Sunday.
Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey proposed winding down Federal Reserve lending programs, putting a halt to negotiations on spending and coronavirus aid. Democrats allege that the effort to shut down the Fed program would cripple opportunities to stabilize the economy as President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
“If Republicans drop their last minute demand to sabotage 2021 economically we could have a COVID deal within hours. This new demand introduced by Senator Toomey is all that is standing in the way of a relief bill passing,” Democratic Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz tweeted.