House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said today that House members have been asked to be in Washington, DC no later than 10 a.m. ET Thursday to vote on the next coronavirus relief package and a rules change to allow for proxy voting.
He said on a call with reporters that congressional leaders “are asking every member to return who can return, and we hope that that is a large number.”
Some lawmakers, he said, are particularly vulnerable to the illness and others are caring for family members. Some are concerned about traveling to DC and then having to quarantine themselves away from their family for 14 days.
“We're not ordering members to come back, but we do expect sufficient members to come back so we can have a quorum,” he said.
He added that the relief package will likely get a full roll call vote, unlike the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which passed under an expedited process often used for uncontroversial legislation.
“We think it will pass with a bipartisan vote,” Hoyer said. He said it is “unfortunate” that more funding for state and local governments did not make it into the agreement, which is still being finalized. He said he believes congressional leaders are “close to a deal.”
He said the legislation will include $25 billion for testing, divided between states, local governments and the federal government.
