House, Senate pass COVID-19 relief bill, which now heads to Trump's desk

Democrats and Republicans linked arms Monday and rushed to pass a new round of coronavirus relief, saying they were delivering a measure of hope to families grimly confronting the holidays and new year amid a new round of shutdowns.

The bill, which also included full funding for all other government operations in 2021, cleared both chambers with strong bipartisan support late Monday night. It now needs to be signed into law by President Trump.

The package passed with less than 20 minutes to spare before the midnight deadline, but Congress also passed a weeklong funding measure to give the deal time to be formally processed, giving them a bit more breathing room.

The deal made by top party leaders on Capitol Hill ends an eight-month logjam, during which the virus went through two new surges, U.S. deaths attributed to COVID-19 topped 300,000, and the jobs picture began to slump again.

The breakthrough came earlier this month when a group of centrist Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate announced that they had worked out a $900 billion deal, forcing those on their right and left to come back to the table.

Monday’s relief package tracked closely to the size of the centrists’ proposal, though many of the details were rewritten and big sticking points, such as aid to local governments and liability protections for businesses reopening amid the pandemic, were put off for future negotiations.