'Not so fast' on starting bipartisan negotiations on an interim measure to provide $250 billion more for the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Republican congressional leaders said over the weekend. Democratic leaders this morning released a statement reupping calls for changes to the PPP and additional measures, including for SNAP food assistance, suggesting they will not soon accede to the GOP insistence that an interim bill only address PPP and hold other issues for a larger bill on the horizon. A Senate pro forma session this morning did not yield any action, and another is set for Thursday, April 16, at 3 p.m.

With both sides dug in, if and when the 'four corners' bipartisan negotiations with House and Senate leaders of both parties will begin and reach a resolution is uncertain. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said April 10 he and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — the pair who oversaw some of the final back-and-forth talks leading to the CARES Act — had agreed to begin negotiations, but it's not clear other top Republicans were on board.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was reported April 9 as saying he believes pressure will build on Democrats to accede on PPP funding. President Trump said April 10 that he doesn't oppose Democratic demands for the interim measure, but "I'd rather have that be in phase four. I don't deny it. I think it's fine, but I think it should be in phase four," referring to the larger bill lawmakers hope to move.

An April 11 joint statement by Senator McConnell and House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said in part "Republicans reject Democrats' reckless threat to continue blocking job-saving funding unless we renegotiate unrelated programs which are not in similar peril," and "we will continue to seek a clean PPP funding increase."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senator Schumer's statement this morning said while it is clear that CARES Act appropriated amounts will not be enough to cover the tremendous need, "Further changes must also be made to the SBA's assistance initiative, as many eligible small businesses continue to be excluded" and "at the same time, strong additional support for hungry families and children relying on SNAP is needed." In addition to PPP changes and food assistance, Democratic leaders had previously also called for $100 billion more for health care needs and $150 billion for state & local governments.

When exactly the PPP will run out of money is unclear. The Democratic statement also addressed the issue dominating much of the news coverage this morning: timing for reopening the country and economy. The statement said: "we all desire an end to the shutdown orders so we can get Americans back to work and back to normal. However, there is still not enough testing available to realistically allow that to happen. We Democrats demand adequate funding for the production and distribution of national rapid testing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) — it cannot wait. The collection and publication of demographic data are also desperately needed, so that we can accurately determine the level of impact on under-served communities and communities of color and direct needed resources to them immediately."

Even if an interim bipartisan deal can be reached and approved by unanimous consent in the Senate, how and when it could be passed by the House is unclear. The chamber may not be able to move any legislation on an expedited basis given that at least one member, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), is insisting that a quorum be present for all business. There are doubts that Congress can reconvene the week of April 20 while much of the nation remains shut down. Both chambers had set that timeframe as the earliest they would return to a regular session.

Meanwhile, the IRS expects to start direct deposit of stimulus checks this week, and further CARES Act implementation and other guidance is expected over the course of the week.

EY Alerts and other resources are here.

The global EY Tax COVID-19 Response Tracker has been updated through April 8.

EY Webcasts this week include:

• Tuesday, April 14. Tax in a disrupted market, latest tax considerations and strategies in a disrupted market, 1:00 p.m. ET. This webcast, the third in the series, and the second part of the webcast broadcasted on 31 March, will dive deeper into tax issues resulting from the economic impact of COVID-19 and other global factors on multinational companies. Register.
• Friday, April 17. Tax in the time of COVID-19, 12:00 p.m. ET. Details and registration information forthcoming.

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