Congressional Leaders to Unveil $1.4 Trillion Spending Bill Today

The House and Senate intend to unveil a massive new spending bill today. The $1.4 trillion bill is meant to fund federal agencies through the end of September 2021. Congress currently has a little less than a week to approve a more permanent spending bill in order to avoid a government shutdown, which they narrowly dodged last Friday. This latest proposal has a tight deadline with little time for party leaders to look over its contents. This is concerning because included in the bill are provisions over immigration, abortion, and veterans issues, as well as Covid relief and more. Party leaders hope to pass the bill by Friday but it’s expected to be a combative process. It’s likely another short-term stopgap will be approved in order to both prevent a shutdown and allow more time for Covid relief talks. It’s believed Democrats have reached a point in which they may need to give up nearly $160 billion in aid for state and local agencies, unless they grant them liability protections, if they hope to reach some sort of bipartisan agreement soon.