United States - Congress Passes Bill to Fund Government and Provide COVID-19 Relief


After months of stalled negotiations in Washington, Congress reached an agreement and passed a comprehensive government spending package that also provides roughly $900 billion in COVID-19 relief funding. The federal government is currently operating on a seven-day continuing resolution to allow time for the 5,600 page bill to be enrolled and sent to the President for consideration. However, the President has expressed concern with several provisions in the bill and requested that Congress make changes that could result in further delays.

The $1.4 trillion spending package extends funding for federal agencies through September 30, 2021. It includes a $5 billion increase for defense funding, a $20 billion increase for nondefense programs, $3.1 billion in emergency funding for agency operations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and $474 million for medical research associated with the 21st Century Cures Act. The funding package also includes provisions to extend a number of expiring health and tax programs, waives Medicare payment cuts, ends surprise medical billing, promotes clean energy, reauthorizes water infrastructure programs and makes changes to federal student aid programs.
 

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