Congress OKS 2-day extension of fed funding

Shutdown avoided but virus stimulus package still stuck

Lawmakers gain more time to resolve the remaining sticking points on a $900 billion coronavirus relief package./

Congress Friday evening approved a two-day extension in funding for the federal government to give lawmakers more time to resolve the remaining sticking points on a $900 billion coronavirus relief package.

The measure was quickly approved within hours by both the House and Senate on Friday evening. President Trump still has to sign the measure.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D -Md., said Friday evening that there were "still some significant issues outstanding" in the way of a coronavirus relief deal.

Hoyer added that House lawmakers should not expect to vote earlier than Sunday at 1 p.m. The two-day funding measure passed the House by a 320 to 60 vote margin, with all the no votes coming from Republican lawmakers and Rep. Justin Amash, L-mich.

The measure passed the Senate unanimously. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT., temporarily held up the vote and on the Senate floor urged lawmakers to approve another round of stimulus payments, but quickly withdrew his objections after a short speech.

Congressional leaders will still continue to work on the larger stimulus package with the hopes of announcing a deal, possibly as soon as Friday night, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal planning.

The short-term spending bill gives lawmakers time to review the bill before voting on it either over the weekend or at the beginning of next week.

The duration of the stopgap and Hoyer's announcement of Sunday votes raises the likelihood that the vast majority of lawmakers will be asked to vote on a bill spending more than $2 trillion and likely running many hundreds of pages with only hours to review it.

Lawmakers had hoped pressure from the looming shutdown would force a compromise on stimulus legislation but appeared to acknowledge Friday afternoon that a deal on the relief package was unlikely to be struck before the end of the day.