Congressional leaders from both parties met Tuesday to work on deals for the two most pressing issues left for lawmakers to tackle before the holidays.
The “Four Corners” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — met to negotiate the comprehensive government spending package and a potential coronavirus relief package, two senior aides from both parties told The Washington Times.
The meeting broke up around 5 p.m. and lawmakers said they would reconvene in a couple of hours for further discussions.
“We’re continuing to work. I think there’s progress. We’ll get back together,” Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, said.
Mrs. Pelosi also spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin for over an hour earlier Tuesday, according to her spokesman Drew Hammill. Mr. Mnuchin joined the leadership call later in the afternoon.
The leadership meeting is a key step for any coronavirus deal to get to the floor. It’s the first meeting with the major leaders on Capitol Hill in weeks to negotiate a deal on either front.
Earlier in the afternoon, Mr. McConnell vowed that Congress would not break for the holidays until coronavirus relief is passed and reiterated his preference to pass a deal with only the agreed-upon programs.
“We are still talking to each other and there is agreement that we are not going to leave here,” he said after the meeting.
Congress has until Friday to finalize the $1.4 trillion omnibus to fund the government until next September and get it signed by President Trump in order to avoid a government shutdown.
Both Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, and Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican, have eyed that spending package as a vehicle for any relief deal they can work out.
On Monday, a bipartisan, bicameral group of lawmakers released their $908 billion compromise.
It was split into a less controversial “consensus” bill — $748 billion — with items such as small business funds, billions for vaccine distribution, money for schools, renewed unemployment benefits, and extensions for eviction moratoriums and student loan forbearance.
The other bill — $160 billion — contained their deal to provided restricted funds to state, local and tribal governments and liability protections, which were the two toughest sticking points. This second bill did not have the entire support of the bipartisan coalition.
Sens. Joe Manchin, West Virginia Democrat, and Susan Collins, Maine Republican, — two architects of the bipartisan proposal — said they expect their $748 billion plan, or at least some version of it, to be folded into the government funding package.
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