Congress aims to scrape together a coronavirus relief package this week and prevent a lapse of benefits that could send millions of Americans spiraling further into financial peril at the end of the year.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers hopes to release a more detailed outline of its $908 billion aid proposal on Monday as it prepares legislative text. Democratic leaders have backed the plan as the basis for an emergency relief bill as a sustained Covid-19 infection surge stresses hospitals across the country.
Lawmakers aim to pass both pandemic aid and spending legislation before the government shuts down Saturday. They will have to quickly resolve several sticking points to meet the deadline.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and part of the bipartisan group that crafted the $908 billion plan, told CNBC on Monday that state and local government support and business liability from coronavirus-related lawsuits are the biggest remaining issues in the relief package. He believes the proposal has a better chance of getting through a divided Congress and past President Donald Trump's desk than existing bills written by only one party.
"I think in some way this package passes," Cassidy told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has urged passage of what he calls a "targeted" package worth about $500 billion. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had called for more than $2 trillion in spending before they embraced the bipartisan plan.
On Sunday, Schumer described the compromise as a stopgap to buoy the country until next year. He hopes Washington can pass a "much bigger bill" after President-elect Joe Biden takes office Jan. 20.
"We're at the last minute, we have a bipartisan compromise. It should be the framework for the emergency we have now, to deal with things in the next few months," he told reporters in New York.
Key unemployment expansion provisions put in place earlier this year expire at the end of the month. About 12 million people could lose benefits if Congress fails to act.
Millions of Americans also face the threat of eviction if lawmakers do not sustain a moratorium that lapses at the end of 2020.
The bipartisan package would extend those lifelines. It would put nearly $300 billion into Paycheck Protection Program small business loans and another $160 billion into state and local government aid.
The proposal would reinstate the federal unemployment insurance supplement at $300 per week. It would also direct funds to Covid-19 vaccine distribution, schools and the transportation sector, among other provisions.
It would not include a second round of $1,200 direct payments to most Americans. Lawmakers such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have questioned how much help families would actually get without another stimulus check.
On Friday, Biden said direct payments "may still be in play" as part of a relief package.
McConnell has also backed broad protections for businesses and universities from coronavirus-related lawsuits, which Sanders and others who caucus with Democrats oppose. The bipartisan plan as introduced last week would create a temporary federal liability shield while states determine their own laws.
McConnell and Trump have also opposed additional aid for cash-crunched state and local governments. However, Cassidy and other Republicans have championed relief as a step to save jobs among first responders and teachers who could otherwise lose their jobs as governments cut costs.
"This is about robust growth," Cassidy said Monday. "This about taking care of first responders. I don't want to be the guy defunding the police."
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Congress looks for last-minute Covid stimulus deal as benefits cliff looms - CNBC
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