华盛顿——总统唐纳德·特朗普周五签署了一项临时的政府资助法案，使其成为法律，避免了午夜的联邦政府关门，并为国会赢得了关于新冠肺炎援助的断断续续的谈判时间。
就在几个小时前，参议院一致通过了这项短期措施，没有太大的戏剧性，并在没有清楚了解下周会发生什么的情况下，让参议员们回家过周末。该法案设定下周五午夜为新的截止日期。众议院周三通过了该法案。
谈判陷入僵局，但普遍认为，如果不通过一轮拖延已久的大流行救援，国会今年不会休会。在参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)辞职后，一个由两党议员组成的小组提出的9000亿美元的援助计划遇到了困难。与努力背道而驰。尽管如此，谈判仍在进行，压力仍然很大。
众议院已经休会几天，领导人警告议员们准备返回华盛顿就年终交易进行投票。
参议院拨款委员会主席、阿拉巴马州参议员理查·谢尔比说，另一项1.4万亿美元综合支出法案的谈判人员似乎正朝着积极的方向前进。该法案将作为一个载体，携带任何年终病毒援助。
麦康奈尔说:“我希望我们将通过omni和COVID包实现这一目标。”
解决新冠肺炎一揽子援助计划的僵局是国会山的一个难题，人们有很多不好的感觉。但是两党的领导助手都表示，对学校援助等问题的讨论趋势良好。
特朗普再次推动对美国人进行新一轮刺激检查，提议每人600美元，而不是今年春天发出的1200美元。对成本的考虑导致了较小的金额。
向家庭直接支付现金不包括在两党提案或参议院共和党人的低成本计划中，该计划已失败两次。另一轮现金援助的想法已经被总统的一些最激烈的批评者所接受，包括纽约州民主党众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯和佛蒙特州民主党众议员伯尼·桑德斯。
桑德斯说:“除非我们确保为这个国家数百万受苦的家庭提供食物，否则我们不会回家过圣诞节。”。
加州众议院议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)表示，国会将在圣诞节前甚至圣诞节后继续努力达成协议。新国会将于1月3日宣誓就职。
9000多亿美元的提案为疫苗、小企业、医疗保健提供者、学校和遭受病毒危机和经济衰退的家庭提供了大量新资金。
一个关键的阻碍是在为各州提供更多资金的问题上的僵局，这是民主党人和一些共和党人想要的，也是麦康奈尔的共和党首要任务，但大多数民主党人反对的企业和大学责任保护。
两党团体试图将这两项条款结合起来作为妥协。
麦康奈尔最初提出了一个为期五年的病毒诉讼责任保护，追溯到2019年12月，但这个两党团体正着眼于将保护期从六个月缩减到一年。劳工和民权组织反对任何屏蔽，他们说这剥夺了必要的工人在大流行期间承担风险的潜在法律追索权。
民主党领导人希望获得更多的州和地方援助，但接受了较低的1600亿美元。
但许多共和党人长期以来一直将州和地方援助视为他们难以支持的救助，尽管全国各地的州长和市长都呼吁提供资金。
周四晚些时候，参议员迪克·德宾和其他民主党人向这个两党团体提出了另一项债务提案，但被共和党人拒绝，据一名不愿透露姓名的参议院助理透露，他将讨论这次私下会议。
特朗普政府又回到了9160亿美元计划的谈判中。它将向大多数美国人直接支付600美元，但取消了参议院两党谈判小组支持的每周300美元的就业福利。
白宫的提议得到了众议院共和党高层的支持，并得到了麦康奈尔的明显支持。民主党人反对这项计划，部分原因是政府拒绝支持将8月份到期的奖金流行病失业救济金部分恢复到每周300美元。
Trump, Congress avert shutdown, buy time for COVID-19 talks
WASHINGTON -- PresidentDonald Trumpsigned a temporary government-wide funding bill into law on Friday, averting a federal shutdown at midnight and buying Congress time for on-again, off-again talks on COVID-19 aid.
The short-term measure passed the Senate just hours earlier by a unanimous voice vote without much drama and sent senators home for the weekend without a clear picture of what awaits next week. The bill sets a new deadline of midnight next Friday. The House passed the bill Wednesday.
The talks are stalled but there is universal agreement that Congress won't adjourn for the year without passing a long-delayed round of pandemic relief. An emerging $900 billion aid package from a bipartisan group of lawmakers hit a rough patch after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., swung against the effort. Still, negotiations are ongoing and pressure remains intense.
The House has recessed for a few days, with leaders warning members to be prepared to return to Washington to vote on the year-end deals.
Negotiators on a separate $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill appeared to be moving in a positive direction, said the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. This bill would serve as a vehicle to carry any year-end virus assistance.
“I’m hopeful we’re going to get there on both the omni and the COVID package," McConnell said.
Fixing the impasse over the COVID-19 aid package is a Capitol Hill head-scratcher and hard feelings are plentiful. But discussions over issues such as aid to schools are trending well, leadership aides in both parties say.
Trump has renewed a push for a fresh round of stimulus checks for Americans, proposing $600 per individual rather than the $1,200 that was sent out this spring. Cost concerns are responsible for the smaller amount.
Sending direct cash payments to households was not included in the bipartisan proposal or a lower cost plan from Senate Republicans that has failed twice. The idea of another round of cash but has been embraced by some of the president's fiercest critics — including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N,Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
“We're not going to go home for the Christmas holidays unless we make sure that we provide for the millions of families in this country who are suffering," Sanders said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Congress would keep working up to or even after Christmas to get an agreement. The new Congress is being sworn in on Jan. 3.
The $900 billion-plus proposal provides sweeping new funds for vaccines, small businesses, health care providers, schools and families suffering from the virus crisis and the economic shutdowns.
A key hold up has been the standoff over more money for the states, that Democrats - and some Republicans - want and the liability shield for businesses and universities that is McConnell's top GOP priority but that most Democrats oppose.
The bipartisan group tried to marry those two provisions as a compromise.
McConnell had initially proposed a five-year liability shield from virus lawsuits, retroactive to December 2019, but the bipartisan group was eyeing a scaled-back shield of six months to a year. Labor and civil rights groups oppose any shield, which they say strips essential workers of potential legal recourse as they take risks during the pandemic.
Democratic leaders had wanted far more in state and local aid, but were accepting of the lower $160 billion.
But many Republicans have long viewed the state and local aid as a bailout they would have trouble supporting, despite the pleas for funds coming from governors and mayors nationwide.
Late Thursday, Sen. Dick Durbin and other Democrats pitched another liability proposal to the bipartisan group, but it was rejected by Republicans, according to a Senate aide granted anonymity to discuss the private session.
The Trump administration is back in the middle of the negotiations with a $916 billion plan. It would send a $600 direct payment to most Americans but eliminate a $300-per-week employment benefit favored by the bipartisan group of Senate negotiators.
The White House offer has the endorsement of the top House Republican and apparent backing from McConnell. Democrats oppose the plan in part because of the administration's refusal to back the partial restoration, to $300 per week, of bonus pandemic jobless benefits that lapsed in August.
