Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Pelosi wasn’t invited to the signing ceremony: “President Donald Trump on Friday signed the $2 trillion coronavirus economic stimulus bill in an Oval Office ceremony, putting in motion desperately needed financial relief for millions of Americans set back by the pandemic. Trump signed the bill just hours after the House passed it with a bipartisan vote.”
* His position on this has been all over the place: “President Donald Trump invoked the sparsely used Defense Production Act to order the Department of Health and Human Services on Friday to compel General Motors to manufacturer ventilators to combat the coronavirus outbreak hours after he sharply criticized the company for slow-walking production.”
* The three-day rally didn’t last: “Stocks closed sharply lower on Friday despite the passage of the $2 trillion economic relief package as investors turned their focus to data that showed the U.S. has more coronavirus cases than any other nation.”
* EPA: “The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday abruptly waived enforcement on a range of legally mandated public health and environmental protections, saying industries could have trouble complying with them during the coronavirus pandemic.”
* A reverberating trade war: “Hospital workers on the front lines of the fight against coronavirus are reporting dangerous shortages of supplies such as masks and gloves. Trade experts accuse President Donald Trump of politicizing the pandemic and risking the lives of first responders by continuing to wage his trade war against China.”
* Hmm: “The Army earlier this week ordered a halt to most training, exercises and nonessential activities that require troops to be in close contact, military officials said, but abruptly reversed itself days later even as the infection rate within the American military shot up.”
* The CDC “fumbled its communication with public health officials and underestimated the threat of the coronavirus even as it gained a foothold in the United States, according to hundreds of pages of documents ProPublica obtained.” * Senate Dems had no interest in helping the cruise lines: “Like hotels and airlines, cruise companies have seen their business decimated by the coronavirus pandemic and economic shutdowns. But unlike those industries, major cruise operators don’t locate their headquarters in the United States, so they will not have access to $500 billion in aid for large employers in the massive stimulus bill, the industry’s trade group said Thursday.” * If 2020 would give us a break, I think we’d all appreciate it: “The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be another busy year after the already raucous 2019, according to a report by AccuWeather.” Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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