Stopgap funding up in the air as coronavirus relief talks drag on

Stopgap funding up in the air as coronavirus relief talks drag on-rollcall: Disagreements over a temporary spending bill, including whether one was even needed, threatened a government funding lapse as lawmakers slowly worked their way through COVID-19 aid bill disputes.

Pelosi eyes combining Covid aid with mammoth spending deal

Pelosi eyes combining Covid aid with mammoth spending deal-politico:  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she wants to attach a coronavirus relief bill to a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending package that would avert a government shutdown later this month, raising the prospects of long-stalled stimulus relief finally being signed into law.

Coronavirus relief talks bleed past deadline amid lingering doubts

Coronavirus relief talks bleed past deadline amid lingering doubts-rollcall: Top negotiators didn't reach a bipartisan deal on COVID-19 aid by a self-imposed deadline Tuesday, as doubts grew that any new relief bill could become law before the November 3 elections.  Both sides pledged to continue their talks Wednesday, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi said some progress was made in a call Tuesday with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

GOP governors ignored mask mandate advice from task force

GOP governors ignored mask mandate advice from task force-rollcall:  The House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released eight weekly reports from the White House Coronavirus Task Force this summer that showed concerns about the coronavirus’s spread, the same time period when the administration prematurely declared victory over the pandemic.

Health and business concerns clash in debate over COVID-19 liability

Health and business concerns clash in debate over COVID-19 liability-rollcall: While Congress jostles over whether businesses should get extra protections from lawsuits related to COVID-19 in the next pandemic relief bill, legal action across the country highlights the stakes for states struggling to reopen their economies.

Democrats: CDC ‘sidelined’ by Trump during pandemic response

Democrats: CDC ‘sidelined’ by Trump during pandemic response-rollcall: House Democrats criticized the Trump administration for politicizing the response to the COVID-19 pandemic during an appropriations hearing Thursday, while Republicans focused their questions on the economy and the prospects for longer-term funding.

Lawmakers compromise on PPP loan terms as talks continue

Lawmakers compromise on PPP loan terms as talks continue-rollcall: A Republican lawmaker said Wednesday that negotiators agreed to adjust a key ratio in a program to relieve small businesses from the COVID-19 pandemic, lowering to 60 percent the portion of loans that must be used for payroll, from 75 percent currently, and giving borrowers more time to use any loans.

US Chamber expects another COVID-19 relief bill before July 4

US Chamber expects another COVID-19 relief bill before July 4-rollcall: One of the nation's most powerful trade groups expects Congress to pass another coronavirus relief bill, one including its legislative priorities, before the Fourth of July recess.

Social distancing one week earlier could have saved 36,000 US lives: study

Social distancing one week earlier could have saved 36,000 US lives: study-thehill: The U.S. could have avoided nearly 36,000 deaths caused by the coronavirus through early May if stay-at-home orders and other social-distancing restrictions were implemented just one week earlier, a new study from Columbia University researchers shows.

House narrowly passes $3 trillion coronavirus aid bill

House narrowly passes $3 trillion coronavirus aid bill-rollcall: Speaker Nancy Pelosi muscled a $3 trillion aid package through the House late Friday, overcoming defections from her party's moderate wing who would have preferred to vote for a bipartisan measure.

Virus aid bill and proxy voting readied for Friday House action

Virus aid bill and proxy voting readied for House action-rollcall: House lawmakers flocked back to Washington ahead of Friday votes on trillions of dollars in coronavirus aid and approval of the most consequential change to the House voting process in more than 40 years. The House Rules Committee voted along party lines Thursday night to send to the floor a rule for consideration of the $3 trillion coronavirus bill and a resolution to change House rules to allow for proxy voting and remote committee proceedings.

Pelosi to lay down multitrillion-dollar marker with new coronavirus package

Pelosi to lay down multitrillion-dollar marker with new coronavirus package-politico: Speaker Nancy Pelosi is speeding to finalize a multitrillion-dollar coronavirus relief package, hoping to put the bill on the House floor next week — a timeline that even some senior Democrats dismiss as unlikely.

McConnell under mounting GOP pressure to boost state aid-

McConnell under mounting GOP pressure to boost state aid-thehill: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is facing growing calls within his own conference to increase financial assistance to state and local governments, something the GOP leader shut down during recent coronavirus-relief talks with Democrats.

Details start to emerge about House Democrats’ coronavirus relief bill

Details start to emerge about House Democrats’ coronavirus relief bill-rollcall: Speaker Nancy Pelosi previewed additional small-business relief that Democrats plan to include in their next coronavirus bill, including an extension of the loan forgiveness period of the so-called Paycheck Protection Program.

Democrats aim to squeeze Republicans on next coronavirus relief package

Democrats aim to squeeze Republicans on next coronavirus relief package-politico: Top House Democrats on Monday signaled they are forging ahead with the next sweeping coronavirus relief package, aiming to increase the pressure on GOP leaders who have rejected Democratic priorities in previous aid bills. On a private call with members Monday afternoon, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her deputies sketched the outline of a trillion-dollar-plus package that would deliver aid to state and local governments — some on the brink of public service cuts — while shoring up safety-net programs for the nation’s most vulnerable.

McConnell and Pelosi ‘respectfully decline’ rapid COVID-19 tests for Congress

McConnell and Pelosi ‘respectfully decline’ rapid COVID-19 tests for Congress-rollcall: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed Saturday to reject an offer from the Trump administration to provide Congress with rapid-results testing for COVID-19, saying those tests should go where there is a greater need.

Pelosi floats almost $1T for states in next relief package

Pelosi floats almost $1T for states in next relief package-thehill: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that Democrats will push for including almost $1 trillion in the next coronavirus relief package to help states and local governments hit hard by the pandemic. That figure, Pelosi said, would likely be the single largest line-item of the Democrats' next emergency package, known as CARES 2, which is also expected to include hundreds of billions of dollars more to help workers, businesses and families weather the crisis.

House reverses, but Senate to return despite COVID threat

House reverses, but Senate to return despite COVID threat-thehill: House Democrats on Tuesday reversed course on plans to bring the chamber back into session next week as Senate Republicans vowed to return despite a growing number of coronavirus cases in Washington, D.C. The contrasting approaches of the two chambers over whether it’s safe for Congress to be in session served as a microcosm of the broader partisan fight over how and when to reopen the nation’s economy.

Both chambers of Congress to return May 4, despite pandemic recommendations

Both chambers of Congress to return May 4, despite pandemic recommendations-rollcall: Both chambers of Congress will return to the Capitol for regular legislative session on May 4, which is 11 days before the current stay-at-home order in Washington, D.C., expires.

A feud over face masks and pandemic relief: Congress returns

A feud over face masks and pandemic relief: Congress returns-politico: For the first time in nearly a month, House members returned to a largely deserted Capitol Hill. Congress — like the entire country — seemed changed forever. Or maybe not.