How long is this bill going to be? Many, many hundreds of pages. For a taste:
-FY20 omni: 933pp
-CARES Act: 335pp
-Surprise billing draft: 372pp
-Energy bill draft: 555pp
-House-passed WRDA: 369pp
-House intel reauth: 220pp
-Also pipeline reauth, USMCA fixes
= Easily 3000+ pages
Update: I am staring at a file timestamped 5:07 a.m. that runs 3,116 pp long. It appears to include every part of the bill EXCEPT the $1.4T omnibus and the $900B covid relief package.
If the final bill includes this package, one item of note: It will establish the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino, which were both blocked by @SenMikeLee earlier this month.
Also in there: The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 -- major antidoping bill for the horseracing industry cc: @APAndrewTaylor
Other parochial matters that appear to be in the package: Repeal of the planned sale of Plum Island, NY - win for NY/CT lawmakers who wanted soon-to-be-former bioresearch facility kept as conservation area, not developed.
Also spotted:
-FTC authority to police covid-related scams
-Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act
-Montana Water Rights Protection Act
-FAFSA Simplification Act
-Sudan Claims Resolution Act
-Land conveyance for new Theo. Roosevelt Pres. Library
UPDATE: All of these items above that were in the morning draft remain in the final 5,593pp bill rules.house.gov/sites/democrat…
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Almost exactly six hours after 5,593-page bill was circulated, the House is now taking first of two consecutive votes to pass it. Expect it all to wrap sometime b/w 9:15 and 9:45 p.m. Senate action to follow tonight.
And it passes just after 9:10 p.m. Portion with covid relief approved 359-53. Now to the Senate, which could take some time as clerks review bill, prep for transmission.
It's 10:48 p.m., and the Senate is voting on the massive covid/omnibus/tax/energy/intel/water/pipeline/surprise billing/etc/etc/etc bill. That's nine hours after introduction, but who's counting?
So this is a frequent reaction to these giant "Christmas Tree" bills, but it's off target for the vast majority of the included items. Many of these legislators will gladly and gleefully take credit for these items!
The major reason why these bills get loaded up is that the Senate barely passes any standalone legislation any more, save for the most innocuous items. That creates massive pressure to hitch a ride on items that do move, like this one.
Yes, part of it is the choice of @senatemajldr to focus on nominations; part of it is the mutual partisan gamesmanship that have weaponized Senate rules; part of it is one obstreperous senator can slow things down.
For the record, it's more than 1,000 pages longer than the FY21 NDAA, which was developed over the course of months and available for five days before the House passed it.
What's next:
House Rules Cmte meets 2:45. That mtg could take 1 hour.
Then to the floor: 1 hr of rule debate then about 1 hr for rule vote.
Then at least 1 hr of bill debate, maybe more. Then ~90 mins for TWO votes on diff pieces of bill, which are then merged & sent to Senate.
McCONNELL: "More help is on the way. Moments ago in consultation with our committees the four leaders of the Senate and House finalized in agreement for another major rescue package for the American people."
"At long last, we have the bipartisan breakthrough the country has needed. Now we need to promptly finalize text, avoid any last minute obstacles, and cooperate to move this legislation through both chambers."
LATEST: Schumer declares @SenToomey Fed language "the only significant hurdle to completing an agreement" on covid aid.
"We're close to an agreement, but we need to finalize it.... only really the Toomey provision stands in the way."
W/ @JStein_WaPo washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020…
Lol, @SenatorDurbin to reporters (via @alexanderbolton), when asked about latest in talks says: “Toomey, Toomey, Toomey.”
Talks seem to be at a precarious moment rn: Both sides are digging in hard on Toomey language, and the longer this goes on, the harder it will be for either side to gracefully retreat and move forward with a deal. washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020…
Two weeks after last presiding over the Senate (while likely carrying the coronavirus), @ChuckGrassley is back to open the Senate.
Grassley then delivered a quick speech -- praising Ron and Susie Kardel, the Iowans who raised this year's White House turkeys, Corn and Cob.
McConnell: "We all predicted that if any member of the body had a stamina and a spirit to kick the virus to the curb, it would certainly be him. And sure enough, our colleague reports that he experienced no symptoms."