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WASHINGTON When it comes to the new coronavirus recovery package roiling the capital, Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana could use some detective help from the F.B.I., which has unexpectedly found itself an unwitting accomplice in a legislative meltdown.

Id like to know whats in the bill, Mr. Kennedy, who is part of the Republican majority that wrote the measure, proclaimed Tuesday afternoon as he exited a closed luncheon where his colleagues met with top Trump administration officials to unsuccessfully hash out their deep differences over new legislation that apparently remained a mystery to many.

All you need to know about the state of that measure is that Mr. Kennedy said he had set his own staff to sleuthing through it to determine what it contained and what it didnt and would decide how to proceed from there.

Approval of any rescue remains a good ways off.

I have questions, said Mr. Kennedy, who might have been more vocal than others about his dissatisfaction with the legislation, the process that produced it and the strategy to pass it. But he was certainly not alone.

Much of Washington also had questions, like: Is any legislation going to pass? Can Congress do it before a scheduled summer break at the end of next week? What will the final cost be? Will tens of millions of anxious laid-off workers continue to receive extra jobless aid, and how much? What happens, politically and practically, if nothing passes? Oh, and will President Trump get his $1.75 billion to make sure any replacement for the decrepit, Brutalist-style F.B.I. building across the street from his luxury hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue stays in its prime location, in what Democrats believe is a naked ploy to ensure that a competing hotel doesnt take its place?

Mr. Trump suggested on Wednesday that he was not all that interested in the fate of the broader package that is consuming Capitol Hill though he blasted Republicans for their queasiness about including the F.B.I. money. After calling his own partys $1 trillion proposal semi-irrelevant on Tuesday, he told reporters that he preferred a pared-down measure to a sweeping economic stabilization package that would have to be worked out with Democrats.

You work on the payments for the people, Mr. Trump said Wednesday, referring to another round of stimulus checks for Americans, and the rest of it were so far apart, we dont care.

Congress is once again careening over a cliff this time with the expiration of expanded unemployment benefits that have cushioned millions of Americans from the blow of the economic crisis and there is more than a little Thelma and Louise feel to the whole situation. Republicans are nowhere near agreement among themselves, and the various legislative proposals introduced on Monday after a three-day delay do not appear to have anything near majority Republican support, let alone backing from Democrats who instantly attacked them.

I think its a statement of the obvious that I have members who are all over the lot on this, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, told reporters after the closed lunch session. There are some members who think weve already done enough, other members who think we need to do more. This is a complicated problem.

He left it up to Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, to work something out with Democrats.

The Republican dynamic serves only to empower Democrats who will have to provide the necessary votes to pass any legislation in the House and the Senate, meaning the resistance from conservative Republicans opposed to spending more is, ironically, only going to increase the amount of money that must be in the bill to win over Democrats.

If it is going to be passed with mainly Democratic votes, it is going to be mainly a Democratic bill, acknowledged Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas and the author of the liability protections that Republicans insist should be in any final legislation.

Months ago, House Democrats produced their own $3 trillion bill, which is three times the size of the Republican legislation, and given the state of the Republican negotiating position, they are in no hurry to cede much ground.

I think we should just hold firm, said Senator Chris Van Hollen, Democrat of Maryland.

Republicans recognize they are going to have to make some concessions, though they are scrambling to do whatever they can to hold their own line.

Id like to keep it as close to the original number as possible, said Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 3 Senate Republican.

Democrats, typically the party described as being in disarray, expressed amazement at the disorder among Republicans, considering that they had months to come up with a proposal after Mr. McConnell in May had called for a pause in sending more federal dollars out the Capitol door.

In my many years of serving in this chamber, I have never seen a Republican majority or a Senate majority of any type respond to a national emergency in such a disorganized and disoriented fashion, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said on Tuesday. They cant agree on one bill. They cant get 51 votes for anything that is comprehensive.

Updated July 27, 2020

Adding to the Republican unease was the focus on the spending for the new F.B.I. building. After being caught off guard that the money remained in the legislation Monday, Republicans from Mr. McConnell on down seemed very uncomfortable at having been drawn so directly into what appeared to be a concerted effort to use a large amount of taxpayer dollars to protect the business interests of the president.

Some visibly winced as they hemmed and hawed about why the money was included in emergency legislation, until Mr. McConnell said during a news conference that ultimately, he wanted provisions unrelated to the pandemic, like the F.B.I. funding, to go away. Other senior lawmakers gathered with him nodded in agreement, eager to be done with the Trump-induced controversy.

The president wasnt ready to relent, though, and told reporters at the White House that any Republican allies questioning the expenditure should go back to school and learn. He said the building was dangerous and should stay in its current location because of its proximity to the main Justice Department headquarters.

The F.B.I. dispute was only a symptom of a larger problem. Republicans have made cutting the $600 in added weekly unemployment pay included in the stimulus law enacted in March a central element of their approach. They have contended that the benefit is so generous it has discouraged Americans from returning to their jobs a notion that most Democrats reject.

As a substitute, they are proposing a system where recipients would receive an extra $200 per week a two-thirds cut from what they are getting now while state unemployment offices devise a system that would ultimately allow individualized payments capped at 70 percent of what they were earning before.

The problem is that some Republicans dont want to spend any money on new aid, while others doubt the state unemployment offices will be able to technologically adapt and provide the tailored benefits. Mr. Kennedy joked on Tuesday that some of those offices just got microwaves last week and that Congress should instead come up with an acceptable flat figure.

Even with the fate of the legislation so uncertain, many lawmakers still seemed optimistic that a deal would eventually be reached. With so many Americans suffering and an election so close at hand it appears to be one of those too big to fail moments when not delivering federal relief just doesnt seem like an acceptable outcome for those in power.

Still, given the current state of things, failure remains a real possibility.

Who knows, said Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska. Maybe this place is just crazy.

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Divided and Demoralized on Virus Aid, Republicans Ask, Whats in the Bill? - The New York Times