A stop-gap funding bill (H.J. Res. 107) raced through the House and Senate this evening and is on its way to the president. The bill would extend current funding for the government from midnight through Sunday, as House and Senate leaders continue to hammer out details of an approaching agreement on virus relief legislation. The House passed the 48-hour spending bill on a 320-60 vote. The Senate approved it by voice vote.

After passing the two-day funding bill, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said that no votes are expected until Sunday afternoon at the earliest, even if a deal is reached on virus relief legislation tonight or tomorrow.

Sticking points in the negotiations on virus relief include whether to restrict any implicit lending power the Federal Reserve may have or claim to have outside explicit authorization by Congress. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) is leading an effort to restrict such actions by the Federal Reserve unless directed by legislation. "It would be a terrible idea to morph these programs into something else," Sen. Toomey warned. "We've heard all kinds of specific ideas...for instance to use these Fed facilities to bail out states and municipalities [and] fund their programs that they put into the HEROES Act," which is the partisan relief bill passed by the House this fall.

Democrats oppose the Fed restrictions, arguing that it does not make sense to handcuff a potential source of emergency liquidity. They also fear it could hamstring future policymaking by the incoming Biden administration.

The Senate has adjourned for the day and will resume legislative work on Saturday at 11AM (ET).

Virus relief negotiations are expected to stretch through the weekend.

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