Congress Strikes Long-Sought Stimulus Deal to Provide $900 Billion in Aid

In a nod to conservative concerns about the overall price of a package, the legislation is expected to repurpose more than $500 billion previously allocated under previous stimulus packages, Mr. McConnell said.

But in the end, the crucial breakthrough came just before midnight on Saturday, when Republicans dropped an effort to ban the Federal Reserve from establishing certain emergency lending programs to help stabilize the economy in the future.

Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, mounted a last-minute push to prevent the Fed and the Treasury Department from setting up any loan program similar to the ones created this year that helped keep credit flowing to municipal, corporate and medium-size business borrowers in times of crisis. After a flurry of talks between him and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, the agreed-upon alternative would ban only programs that were more or less exact copycats of the ones newly employed in 2020.

At nearly $1 trillion, the package was one of the largest federal relief measures in American history. Yet the resulting compromise fell well short of what most economists have said would be needed to jolt the shuddering economy, and would leave President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who pushed for the compromise, facing the task of seeking yet another major economic relief package when he takes office in January.

The relief plan will be paired with a $1.4 trillion catchall government spending bill. Included are the 12 annual appropriation bills to fund every federal department and social safety net programs, as well as an array of legislative add-ons lawmakers attached to ensure their priorities could be enacted before Congress adjourns for the year.

Mr. McConnell said the two parties were still finalizing text as of dinnertime in Washington, and he did not indicate when they would formally introduce a bill or bring it up for a vote.

“I’m hopeful we can do this as promptly as possible,” Mr. McConnell said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/20/us/politics/congress-stimulus-deal.html