House passes bill to avert shutdown

WASHINGTON — The House passed a two-day stopgap spending bill Friday night to avert a partial government shutdown, trying to buy time for frustratingly slow endgame negotiations on an almost $1 trillion COVID-19 economic relief package. Senate action wasn’t guaranteed but appeared likely before the midnight deadline.

The House passed the temporary funding bill by a 320-60 vote as frustrated lawmakers headed for a weekend session.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said early in the day he was “even more optimistic now than I was last night,“but Democrats launched a concerted campaign to block an effort by Republicans to rein in emergency Federal Reserve lending powers. They said the GOP proposal would deprive Presidentelect Joe Biden of crucial tools to manage the economy.

Believing a deal could be reached Friday “would be a triumph of hope over experience,“said a downbeat No. 2 Senate Republican, John Thune of South Dakota.

Funding for the government was to lapse at midnight, and a partial, low-impact shutdown would ensue if Congress failed to pass the stopgap spending bill. All essential federal workers would remain on the job, and most government offices would be closed on the weekend anyway.

The two-day stopgap bill could be stopped by a single senator voicing an objection, but the most likely Republican to do so, Josh Hawley of Missouri, announced he would not block the measure after receiving assurances that direct payments for individuals were included in the broader measure.

After being bogged down for much of Thursday, negotiators turned more optimistic, though the complexity of finalizing the remaining issues and drafting agreements in precise legislative form was proving daunting.

The central elements appeared in place: more than $300 billion in aid to businesses; a $300-per-week bonus federal jobless benefit and renewal of soon-to-expire state benefits;

$600 direct payments to individuals; vaccine distribution funds and money for renters, schools, the Postal Service and people needing food aid.

Lawmakers were told to expect to be in session and voting this weekend.

The details were still being worked out, but the measure includes a second round of “paycheck protection“payments to especially hard-hit businesses,

$25 billion to help struggling renters with their payments, $45 billion for airlines and transit systems, a temporary 15% or so increase in food stamp benefits, additional farm subsidies, and a

$10 billion bailout for the Postal Service.