Congress waits on pre-Christmas deals

Congress hammers out the final details of a COVID-19 relief bill, and plans a small inaugural for Joe Biden. Here's your update for Thursday December 17, 2020.

WAITING ON THE LAST MINUTE DEALS. It’s the week before Christmas, and all through the House, most lawmakers are waiting, wondering if they work in a madhouse. In this case, it's waiting for the specifics of over $900 billion in COVID-19 relief, along with over $1 trillion in government funding bills. "The sad reality of Congress," tweeted Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ). "We pass legislation that only a few Members help to craft and that only a few Members likely read in full." While that may be correct, maybe more true is that holiday deadlines often force Congress to come to major agreements. A weekend of work is pretty much assured on Capitol Hill. And I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the House and Senate being in session between Christmas and New Year’s.

• DETAILS OF THE COVID-19 DEAL. Nothing is final until we see the legislative text. But here are some of the highlights given to reporters: Over $300 billion in new money for PPP business aid. $300 per week in extended jobless benefits. Direct payments to most Americans of around $600 per person. Left out of the deal was one big ask from each party: Democrats will not get $160 billion in aid for state and local governments. Republicans won't get a lawsuit shield for businesses and schools. That exact move was suggested earlier this week by a bipartisan group of lawmakers as a way to break the logjam.

COVID THREAT SHRINKS BIDEN INAUGURAL. When I walked out to the West Lawn of the Capitol this week to take a look at the construction of the Inaugural platform and stands, I was wondering how many people would be allowed to watch the swearing-in of President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris on January 20. The answer is - about as many as go to a State of the Union Address. Senators announced Wednesday that each member of Congress would get two tickets. So, when you add in other VIP's, that takes you to maybe 1,100-1,200 total. Normally, some 200,000 tickets would be handed out, and the crowds would stretch down the National Mall. But not on January 20, 2021. One thing is for sure - there won’t be a contentious White House briefing the next day over how many people actually attended.

• ANOTHER HOUSE COVID CASE. As the House returned to work on Wednesday, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) led the House in the Pledge of Allegiance, and later gave a one minute speech on the House floor. A few hours after that, Wilson announced he was positive for the Coronavirus. The South Carolina Republican - maybe best remembered for yelling, "You lie!" at President Barack Obama - will now be on the sidelines through Christmas. Wilson was at least wearing a mask, under new guidelines from Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The entire Capitol Hill community is lucky the Congress hasn’t had a super spreader.

ELECTION HEARING GETS CHIPPY. As expected, a Senate hearing called by Republicans about election fraud dissolved into finger pointing at various times, featuring a sharp exchange between Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). "You lied repeatedly in the press," Johnson said. "This is not about airing your grievances," Peters shot back. Democrats were furious that Johnson gave a Senate hearing platform to lawyers who had lost cases in court to overturn Joe Biden’s victory. Meanwhile, President Trump was tweeting out more unsupported election fraud charges just five weeks before the Biden Inaugural.

• WHAT ABOUT JANUARY 6? Will a GOP Senator help a House Republican, and try to lodge a formal objection when the Electoral Votes are counted in a Joint Session of Congress? A handful of Senate Republicans were leaving that open as a possible last-ditch effort to get President Trump re-elected. Meanwhile in Georgia, Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) repeatedly refused to answer the simple question of whether she considers Joe Biden the President-Elect. The Georgia runoffs are January 5. The Congress counts Electoral votes Jan. 6.

THE MUSE OF HISTORY: What was I doing 10 years ago today on Capitol Hill? Covering a year-end budget battle, of course. On this date in 2010, a nearly 2,000 page Omnibus funding bill ran aground. The Congress was heading for a weekend of work just before Christmas, with final debate on a bill to repeal the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy on gays in the military.

BILL OF NOTE: Yes, the 116th Congress is almost over, but lawmakers are still introducing bills. A new resolution from Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) would rename the Robert E. Lee Memorial located in Arlington National Cemetery as simply "Arlington House," getting rid of the "Robert E. Lee Memorial" part.

PIANO RECITAL: A day after the Senate approved a resolution okaying a piano concert by Sen. Lamar Alexander, the retiring Tennessee Republican played for staffers and reporters in the Hart Senate Office Building. At one point, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) joined him on harmonica. And one of my colleagues wished for normalcy.

THURSDAY LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM

House meets at 12 noon. More suspension bills.

Senate meets at 10 am. More judges.

President Trump has no public schedule.

HOUSE HEARING OF NOTE: This could be the last regular House hearing of 2020, as the House Oversight and Reform Committee looks at the role of Purdue Pharma in the opioids epidemic. "The purpose of this hearing is to examine the Sackler family's involvement in Purdue's marketing and sales of OxyContin," a committee memo notes. The hearing starts at 9 am.

CORRECTION: "MEXICO CITY (AP) - In a story on December 15, 2020, about the Mexican and Brazilian presidents congratulating U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Biden’s first name is Jose. His name is Joe."

“Conference reports may be brought up at any time. Any further program will be announced later.”