Today’s edition of quick hits:
* I’ll have more on this in the morning: “Congress reached a deal Tuesday on a nearly $500 billion interim coronavirus bill that includes additional funds for the small business loan program as well as more money for hospitals and testing, Democratic and Republican leaders announced.”
* And just like that: “The Senate passed a $483.4 billion economic relief measure Tuesday that would replenish a popular small-business loan program and provide funding for hospitals facing financial shortfalls due to COVID-19.”
* A good sign: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) told Donald Trump at a White House meeting today that “New York no longer needs the USNS Comfort deployed in the city and the hospital ship can be sent where it is more needed.”
* A quick change in direction: “The president is expected on Tuesday evening to announce a temporary pause in the issuance of most green cards…. But Mr. Trump, who declared his intention to ‘suspend immigration’ in a late-night tweet on Monday, has backed off plans to also halt guest worker programs that bring farm laborers, high-tech employees and others to the United States using special visas.”
* A scary thought: “Even as states move ahead with plans to reopen their economies, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday that a second wave of the novel coronavirus will be far more dire because it is likely to coincide with the start of flu season.”
* The next bailout: “U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he has asked his cabinet to devise a plan to inject cash into the ailing U.S. oil-drilling industry to help it survive a historic collapse in crude prices.” * Sidelined: “The Trump administration took Surgeon General Jerome Adams off television last week after his controversial remarks on Covid-19’s threat to minorities, silencing the White House’s loudest voice on racial disparities even as concerns mount about risks to communities of color.” * The resolution of Israel’s political mess: “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his former challenger, Benny Gantz, agreed Monday night to establish a unity government, a deal that finally breaks a yearlong political impasse and keeps Mr. Netanyahu in office as he faces trial on corruption charges.” See you tomorrow.
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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