Sen. Toomey stands firm on provisions to limit Fed’s emergency lending powers – By Deb Erdley (Trib Live) / Dec 19 2020
Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey said his demands that Congress eliminate more than $400 billion in Federal Reserve emergency lending powers approved under the CARES Act and to prohibit such programs in the future should have come as a surprise to no one.
“Contrary to what Democrats suggested, this is not in any way an attempt to hamstring the Biden administration or weaken the economy,” Toomey said. The provision he insisted on proved to be a sticking point in negotiations for a $900 billion covid relief bill this week.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told The Associated Press that Toomey’s provision was the biggest hurdle to a sealing a deal Saturday as lawmakers scrambled to craft a relief bill to attach to a bill that will allow the government to continue operating after Sunday.
Toomey, R-Lehigh Valley, is a fiscal conservative who has said he will not seek re-election in 2022. He was among a handful of Republicans who acknowledged Biden’s victory last month and congratulated the president-elect.
