I know this Fed discussion seems technical, so let me try to explain the Republican position.

Before the CARES Act ever passed, the Fed had the authority (with the Treasury's approval) to create emergency lending programs for state and local governments and small businesses. 1/

The CARES Act gave the Treasury a bunch of money and directed it to work with the Fed to use the money to create emergency lending programs, including for state and local governments and small businesses. The Treasury and Fed then created those lending programs. 2/

The Republican position is not only that those CARES Act programs should end, but that the Fed and Treasury should forever be banned from creating lending programs to help state and local governments or small businesses. 3/

The Republican position thus goes beyond the CARES Act to strip the Treasury and Fed of the power they had pre-CARES Act to create emergency lending programs for state and local governments and small businesses. 4/

So the question remains: why are Republicans holding up critical relief for millions of people unless they are able to strip the Biden Treasury and Fed of crisis-response powers the Trump Treasury and Fed had pre-CARES Act? END

One additional (but important) point: this is a last-minute move by Republicans. In the Fall, they were only pushing language to end the current CARES Act lending programs -- not the broader language to strip the Fed of those lending powers permanently. Here's the Fall language: