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      in US Politics

      Biden pledges '100m shots in 100 days' as he introduces health team

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      Joe Biden vowed on Tuesday to ensure 100m coronavirus vaccinations would be administered to Americans during his first 100 days in the White House – as Donald Trump held a parallel event where he ignored the deepening public health crisis, instead repeating his false claims that he, not Biden, won the November election.
      The Democratic president-elect on Tuesday introduced his new leadership team covering healthcare and laid out an aggressive plan to defeat the coronavirus pandemic that contrasted sharply with the Trump administration’s efforts.
      Speaking at an event in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, Biden formally introduced the team of scientists and doctors he assembled to guide the nation through what they hope will be the final stage of a public health crisis that has killed nearly 284,000 American lives and is one of the worst crises ever to hit the US.
      Preparing to assume office in the midst of what experts believe could be the pandemic’s darkest hour, Biden outlined his priorities for his first three months in office, including a commitment to distribute “100m shots in the first 100 days”, a plea for all Americans to wear masks during that period to prevent the spread of the virus and a promise to open a “majority of schools”.
      “Out of our collective pain, we are going to find a collective purpose,” Biden said, striking a somber tone as he acknowledged the toll of the brutal coronavirus surge averaging more than 2,200 deaths per day. “To control the pandemic, to save lives and to heal as a nation.”
      Leading what Biden dubbed his “core Covid healthcare team” was Xavier Becerra, his nominee for secretary of health and human services. Becerra, the son of Mexican immigrants, served 12 terms in Congress and is California’s the attorney general. He would be the first Latino to serve as US health secretary.
      “The mission of the Department of Health and Human Services has never been as vital or as urgent as it is today,” Becerra said via video link from California.
      Among the other members of the health team is the former surgeon general Vivek Murthy, whom Biden nominated again for the role, and Rochelle Walensky, whom he picked to lead the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, accepted Biden’s invitation to stay on as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a position he has held since 1984, and will serve as Biden’s chief medical adviser.
      “Like every good doctor, he’ll tell me what I need to know, not what I want to know,” Biden said of Fauci, who has become one of the most prominent and trusted sources of information during the coronavirus epidemic, despite his turbulent relationship with Trump. Biden said he was honored to be the seventh president Fauci would serve.
      In a pre-recorded video, Fauci said the current public health crisis was “the toughest one we have ever faced as a nation” and warned that the “road ahead will not be easy”.
      Echoing Fauci, Biden and his nominees were clear-eyed about the challenges that lay ahead. The promise of multiple vaccines has raised hopes, but his team will be judged by its execution of what Biden vowed would be the “most efficient mass vaccination plan in US history”. A coronavirus vaccine by the drugmaker Pfizer is expected to receive approval by the Food and Drug Administration as soon as this week.
      Still, “developing a vaccine is only one herculean task; distributing it is another”, Biden said, acknowledging that it may take longer than expected and would require persuading skeptical Americans to take the vaccine.
      That, Biden said, risked slowing the process. He implored Congress to pass a coronavirus economic relief package that would help finance the administration of the vaccines. Forestalling aid, Biden warned, could dramatically “slow and stall” the distribution process.
      Biden vowed a starkly different approach from that of the current occupant of the White House, who has spent his final weeks in office ignoring the crisis, fixated instead on overturning the results of an election he lost with increasingly wild legal challenges.
      Whereas Trump has long downplayed the threat of the disease and disregarded public health guidelines, Biden, who used his presidential campaign to demonstrate the seriousness of the pandemic, said his team would “spare not a single effort” to defeat the virus and repeated his promise to be guided by science.
      At a dueling event celebrating Operation Warp Speed, Trump boasted that his administration had procured vaccines much quicker than expected and claimed that even his critics were praising the achievement as “one of the miracles of modern medicine”.
      Yet the celebratory White House event came as his administration faced new scrutiny after the New York Times reported that the Trump administration declined an opportunity to purchase more doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine this summer. The White House has denied the story, though several news outlets have corroborated the reporting.
      As the virus continues its uncontrolled spread, Trump has refused to use his remaining time in office – and significant political sway – to urge Americans to take safety precautions such as mask-wearing and social distancing. Biden, meanwhile, has little power to influence public response to the virus until he is inaugurated next month.
      In his remarks from Delaware, Biden warned that a preliminary review of the Trump administration’s vaccine distribution plan found several shortcomings, and it remained unclear how the administration had planned to get vaccines from the containers into the arms of 330 million Americans. Until then, Biden said the “easiest” and most “patriotic” action Americans could take to protect their families and friends was to wear a mask.
      “We’re in a very dark winter – things may well get worse before they get better,” Biden said. “It’s daunting. But I promise you, we’ll make progress.” More

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      in US Politics

      Joe Biden pledges to distribute 100m vaccine shots in first 100 days of presidency – live

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      Key events

      Show

      3.57pm EST15:57
      Biden confirms Lloyd Austin to be nominated as defense secretary

      3.50pm EST15:50
      Judge dismisses Flynn’s criminal case after Trump pardon

      3.04pm EST15:04
      Trump peddles false election claims during vaccine event

      2.45pm EST14:45
      Fauci at Biden event: ‘The road ahead will not be easy’

      2.09pm EST14:09
      Biden calls for ‘100 million shots in first 100 days’ of his presidency

      2.01pm EST14:01
      Biden formally introduces team of health care advisers

      1.00pm EST13:00
      Today so far

      Live feed

      Show

      4.44pm EST16:44

      Senator Doug Jones would not say whether he has recently had talks with Joe Biden about becoming attorney general.
      “I know that the transition team has a really good process that’s working out really well I think so far,” the Alabama Democrat said on Capitol Hill.

      Manu Raju
      (@mkraju)
      Doug Jones, the outgoing Dem senator, wouldn’t say if he’s had talks recently with Biden or his team on AG job. “I know that the transition team has a really good process that’s working out really well I think so far,” he said.“I’m not going to comment any further.”

      December 8, 2020

      NBC News reported earlier today that Jones is now the leading contender to become attorney general, although former deputy attorney general Sally Yates and federal judge Merrick Garland are also under consideration.
      Jones has been in the Senate since winning a 2017 special election, but he lost his bid to serve a full term last month. He and Biden have known each other for decades.

      4.25pm EST16:25

      As soon as Lloyd Austin’s nomination as defense secretary was officially announced, the Atlantic published an op-ed from Joe Biden defending the choice, and another contender for the job, Michèle Flournoy, released a statement congratulating Austin.
      The coordinated publicity campaign seemed to suggest Biden’s team is worried about Austin’s confirmation, as one Daily Beast writer argued.

      Sam Stein
      (@samstein)
      An oped from Biden around his Lloyd Austin nomination coupled with a statement from Flournoy right as the nomination is made formal suggests that the transition team believes it has work to do to sell this one

      December 8, 2020

      Some Democrats have already voiced concerns about granting Austin a waiver to run the department, which the former general will need because of his recent military service.
      Depending on how Republicans handle Austin’s nomination, it could be a very close confirmation vote.

      4.11pm EST16:11

      Joe Biden has written an op-ed for the Atlantic explaining his nomination of Lloyd Austin to lead the defense department.
      The president-elect writes:

      Austin’s many strengths and his intimate knowledge of the Department of Defense and our government are uniquely matched to the challenges and crises we face. He is the person we need in this moment. …
      Above all, I chose Lloyd Austin as my nominee for secretary of defense because I know how he reacts under pressure, and I know that he will do whatever it takes to defend the American people. …
      Moreover, we need leaders like Lloyd Austin who understand that our military is only one instrument of our national security. Keeping America strong and secure demands that we draw on all our tools. He and I share a commitment to empowering our diplomats and development experts to lead our foreign policy, using force only as our last resort.

      The president-elect also urged Congress to grant Austin a waiver to be confirmed as defense secretary. Because of Austin’s recent military service, he must receive the waiver before assuming the role.

      Lloyd Austin retired from military service more than four years ago. The law states that an officer must have left the service at least seven years before becoming secretary of defense. But I hope that Congress will grant a waiver to Secretary-designate Austin, just as Congress did for Secretary Jim Mattis. Given the immense and urgent threats and challenges our nation faces, he should be confirmed swiftly.

      But some Democrats have already expressed hesitation about granting the waiver, expressing a desire to honor the tradition of civilian leadership at the Pentagon.

      4.03pm EST16:03

      Michèle Flournoy, who was previously considered the leading contender to be nominated as defense secretary, released a statement congratulating Lloyd Austin on his nomination.

      Natasha Bertrand
      (@NatashaBertrand)
      And JUST IN: Statement by Michèle Flournoy, who was the other frontrunner for SecDef. “I look forward to helping him and the President-elect succeed in any way that I can.” pic.twitter.com/s1JsA5PQHU

      December 8, 2020

      “General Austin is a man of deep integrity who has spent a lifetime in service to our country,” Flournoy said.
      “General Austin is a colleague and friend, and I know he will bring his impressive skills to bear to lead all those who volunteer to defend our country, military and civilian, at this critical moment.”
      If she had been nominated and confirmed, Flournoy would have been the first woman to lead the Pentagon.

      3.57pm EST15:57

      Biden confirms Lloyd Austin to be nominated as defense secretary

      Joe Biden confirmed in a new statement that retired four-star general Lloyd Austin would be nominated to lead the defense department.
      “General Austin shares my profound belief that our nation is at its strongest when we lead not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example,” the president-elect said.
      “He is uniquely qualified to take on the challenges and crises we face in the current moment, and I look forward to once again working closely with him as a trusted partner to lead our military with dignity and resolve, revitalize our alliances in the face of global threats, and ensure the safety and security of the American people.”
      If confirmed, Austin would be the first African American to lead the Pentagon. News of his nomination comes as some civil rights leaders have complained about the level of representation of African Americans among Biden’s cabinet members.
      However, some Democrats have voiced concern about a recently retired general leading the Pentagon, given the tradition of a civilian leading the department. Austin will have to receive a waiver from Congress to be confirmed.

      3.50pm EST15:50

      Judge dismisses Flynn’s criminal case after Trump pardon

      A federal judge officially dismissed the criminal case against Michael Flynn today, two weeks after Donald Trump issued a pardon for his former national security adviser.
      The AP reports:

      The order from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan was largely procedural in light of the pardon from President Donald Trump, which wiped away Flynn’s conviction for lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation.
      Sullivan made clear in a 43-page order that he was compelled to dismiss the case because of the pardon. But he also stressed that a pardon, by itself, did not mean that Flynn was innocent. Flynn had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts during the presidential transition period with the Russian ambassador.
      ‘The history of the Constitution, its structure, and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the pardon power make clear that President Trump’s decision to pardon Mr. Flynn is a political decision, not a legal one,’ Sullivan wrote. ‘Because the law recognizes the President’s political power to pardon, the appropriate course is to dismiss this case as moot.’

      Flynn became a cause célèbre among the far right, with many of the president’s supporters pushing claims that Flynn was unfairly targeted by the FBI, even though he pleaded guilty twice.
      In recent weeks, Trump has reportedly also weighed potential preemptive pardons for some of his closest advisers, like Rudy Giuliani, and his family members.

      3.29pm EST15:29

      The White House is reportedly pushing to include $600 stimulus checks in the next coronavirus relief package.
      The Washington Post reports:

      Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did not include a second round of stimulus payments in the relief proposal he released last week. Senior Republican leadership in Congress are listening to White House officials push for the inclusion of the stimulus checks, the two people said, a provision also broadly supported by congressional Democrats.
      President Trump has privately indicated a willingness to send another round of stimulus checks of as much as $2,000, according to one person in direct communication with the president.

      Republican senator Josh Hawley has also pushed for another round of stimulus checks, but Republican lawmakers have generally expressed skepticism about the idea.
      The first round of stimulus checks was approved as part of the March CARES Act, and the treasury department broke precedent by printing Trump’s name on the checks.

      3.14pm EST15:14

      During his vaccine event, Donald Trump was also asked why the White House was holding Christmas parties with hundreds of unmasked guests despite urgent warnings from public health experts to avoid indoor gatherings.
      “Well, they’re Christmas parties,” Trump replied. “And frankly we’ve reduced the number very substantially, as you know, and I see a lot of people at the parties wearing masks.”

      Bloomberg Quicktake
      (@Quicktake)
      “They’re Christmas parties, and frankly we’ve reduced the number of them substantially and I see a lot of people at the parties wearing masks,” Trump said after a reporter asked about the White House hosting large gatherings amid the pandemic pic.twitter.com/6IX5MPkzRX

      December 8, 2020

      Trump’s comments came hours after reports emerged that one of his campaign’s legal advisers, Jenna Ellis, had tested positive for coronavirus.
      Ellis attended a White House Christmas party on Friday, raising concerns about another coronavirus outbreak among Trump’s senior staffers.
      Ellis posted a photo of herself at the party on Instagram. She is not masked in the picture.

      3.04pm EST15:04

      Trump peddles false election claims during vaccine event

      David Smith

      Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine summit went off the rails when a reporter asked him about coordinating the effort with members of Joe Biden’s transition.The US president has boasted about the achievement of getting vaccines much quicker than expected and claimed that even his critics were praising “one of the miracles of modern medicine”. He signed an executive order that he said would prioritize the vaccine for Americans before it is shipped abroad.But once the touchy subject of his election defeat was raised, Trump reverted to ranting about false conspiracy theories that last month’s vote was rigged and stolen from him.

      Aaron Rupar
      (@atrupar)
      “Well, we’re gonna have to see who the next administration is … hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration … we were rewarded with a victory” — Trump is still lying about his election loss pic.twitter.com/amriO46DW9

      December 8, 2020

      “Hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration because you can’t steal hundreds of thousands of votes,” he said in the south court auditorium in the White House grounds. “You can’t have fraud and deception and all of the things that they did and then slightly win a swing state.“And you just have to look at the numbers, look at what’s been on tape, look at all the corruption and we’ll see you can’t win an election like that. So hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration, a continuation.”The homeland security department and state leaders have found no significant evidence of interference or fraud in the election. Back in the real world, as Trump was making his attack on democracy, a sombre Biden was sitting in Wilmington, Delaware, listening intently to Vivek Murthy, his nominee to become surgeon general, assess the challenges ahead.

      2.52pm EST14:52

      Speaking at the Wilmington event, vice-president-elect Kamala Harris congratulated Joe Biden on building an impressive team of health care advisers made up of eminently qualified experts.
      Harris noted she and Biden spoke to frontline health care workers over the Thanksgiving holiday to express their gratitude for the workers’ service amid the coronavirus pandemic.
      The vice-president-elect said one nurse told her it felt like a matter of when, not if, she would contract the virus.
      Harris sent this message to those frontline workers: “Help is on the way, and it is long overdue.”
      Once Harris’ speech concluded, the event wrapped up. Biden did not take any questions from reporters.

      2.45pm EST14:45

      Fauci at Biden event: ‘The road ahead will not be easy’

      Dr Anthony Fauci, who will serve as Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, filmed a speech that was played during the president-elect’s event in Wilmington, Delaware.
      Fauci noted that he was missing the event because the National Institutes of Health is simultaneously holding a ceremony to honor Harvey Alter winning the Nobel Prize in medicine.
      The infectious disease expert thanked Biden for allowing him to join his health care advisory team, noting that many of the president-elect’s other advisers are longtime colleagues whom he deeply respects.
      Reflecting on past pandemics the US has experienced, Fauci described the coronavirus pandemic as “the toughest one we have ever faced as a nation.”
      “The road ahead will not be easy,” Fauci said. “I also know we can get through this pandemic together as a nation.”

      2.26pm EST14:26

      Xavier Becerra, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the department of health and human services, delivered a virtual speech for the Wilmington event.
      Speaking from his home state of California, Becerra emphasized the need to get the virus under control in order to help the country recover from the pandemic.
      “To build back a prosperous America, we need a healthy America,” Becerra said. More

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      in US Politics

      Trump officials scramble to justify decision not to buy extra Pfizer vaccine doses

      by

      The Trump administration on Tuesday scrambled to justify a decision not to buy millions of backup doses of a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer as the vaccine appeared likely to become the first approved for use in the United States.Government regulators with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced favorable preliminary findings on Tuesday from a review of Pfizer data, following approval for use in the UK and the first post-approval vaccination there.The Trump administration last spring made a deal for 100m doses of the Pfizer vaccine candidate, but the administration turned down an offer to reserve additional doses, Scott Gottlieb, a current Pfizer board member and former FDA commissioner, confirmed on Tuesday.“Pfizer did offer an additional allotment coming out of that plan, basically the second-quarter allotment, to the US government multiple times – and as recently as after the interim data came out and we knew this vaccine looked to be effective,” Gottlieb told CNBC.“I think they were betting that more than one vaccine is going to get authorized and there will be more vaccines on the market, and that perhaps could be why they didn’t take up that additional 100m option agreement.”With global demand for its vaccine soaring following successful trial results and approval in the United Kingdom, New York-based Pfizer cannot guarantee the United States additional doses before next June, the New York Times reported.The extent to which the decision not to acquire more of the Pfizer vaccine could impede the vaccination effort in the United States was unclear.The news came as the US was on the verge of surpassing 15 million coronavirus cases, the highest number in the world.A second vaccine candidate is currently up for emergency approval from the FDA, and multiple additional vaccine candidates – some of them easier to manage than the Pfizer vaccine, which must be stored at extremely cold temperatures – are in the final stages of clinical review.But Donald Trump and officials involved in the vaccine development program scrambled on Tuesday to head off the perception that the government had failed to get first in line for sufficient supplies of a vaccine produced by an American-based company. US-based Pfizer partnered and its German pharmaceutical partner, BioNTech, are on track to have the first vaccine approved in the US.To celebrate the good vaccine news and tout his role in it, Trump planned to host an event at the White House on Tuesday billed as a “vaccine summit”. He planned to unveil an executive order to prioritize vaccine shipments to “Americans before other nations,” but as with many headline-grabbing orders issued by Trump the decree did not appear to be impactful or enforceable, analysts said.Asked on ABC’s Good Morning America on Tuesday how the order would work, the official in charge of the government’s vaccine development program, Operation Warp Speed, Moncef Slaoui, said: “Frankly, I don’t know.”Health officials named by president-elect Joe Biden, who will lead the vaccine rollout effort after taking office next month, were not invited to the White House event, underscoring the risks of a lack of continuity in the effort.And executives from two drug companies, Pfizer and Moderna – whose own vaccine candidate is also up for approval from the FDA – were invited to the White House by Trump but declined, Stat News reported.Slaoui defended the administration’s decision not to buy more doses of the Pfizer vaccine, in his appearance Tuesday on ABC, saying they were looking at several different vaccines during the summer when it had the option to lock in additional Pfizer vaccine doses.“No one reasonably would buy more from any one of those vaccines because we didn’t know which one would work and which one would be better than the other,” said Slaoui. Before taking his current post, Slaoui resigned from the Moderna board.The US government has also contracted for 100m doses of the Moderna vaccine. Both vaccines require two doses per patient, although a preliminary report on the Pfizer vaccine issued on Tuesday by the FDA found some protection after just one dose.The report, which found “no specific safety concerns identified that would preclude issuance” of an emergency use authorization, accelerated the path to approval. “FDA has determined that [Pfizer] has provided adequate information to ensure the vaccine’s quality and consistency for authorization of the product under an EUA,” the report said.A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services told the Times that in addition to Pfizer and Moderna, the government had signed contracts for doses for other vaccine candidates that have not yet reached the stage of seeking regulatory approval.“We are confident that we will have 100 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine as agreed to in our contract, and beyond that, we have five other vaccine candidates, including 100 million doses on the way from Moderna,” she said. More

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      in World Politics

      Can America Come Together to Fulfil Its Failed Promise?

      by

      With America in the grips of a ravaging pandemic, a corrupt loser narcissist still at the helm and unmasked “freedom” fighters meandering among us, there is so much to do and so much opposition to doing it. It remains utterly inexplicable how uncoordinated and erratic the national response continues to be to the spectacle of …
      Continue Reading “Can America Come Together to Fulfil Its Failed Promise?”
      The post Can America Come Together to Fulfil Its Failed Promise? appeared first on Fair Observer. More

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      in US Politics

      Trump administration refused offer to buy millions more Pfizer vaccine doses

      by

      The Trump administration passed up a chance last summer to buy millions of additional doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, a decision that could delay the delivery of a second batch of doses until the manufacturer fulfills other international contracts.
      The revelation, first reported by the New York Times and confirmed to the Associated Press on Monday, came a day before Donald Trump aimed to take credit for the speedy development of forthcoming vaccines at a White House summit.
      Pfizer’s vaccine, one of the leading Covid-19 vaccine contenders, is expected to be approved by a panel of Food and Drug Administration scientists as soon as this week, with delivery of 100m doses – enough for 50 million Americans – expected in coming months.
      Under its contract with Pfizer, the Trump administration committed to buy an initial 100m doses, with an option to purchase as many as five times more. This summer, the White House opted not to lock in an additional 100m doses for delivery in the second quarter of 2021, according to people who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

      Days ahead of the vaccine’s expected approval, the administration is reversing course, but it is not clear that Pfizer, which has since made commitments to other countries, will be able to meet the latest request on the same timeline.
      The Pfizer vaccine is one of two on track for emergency FDA authorization this month, the other coming from drugmaker Moderna.
      The Trump administration insisted late Monday that between those two vaccines and others in the pipeline, the US will be able to accommodate any American who wants to be vaccinated by the end of the second quarter of 2021.
      Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar told NBC the administration is “continuing to work across manufacturers to expand the availability of releasable, of FDA-approved vaccine as quickly as possible. We do still have that option for an additional 500m doses.”
      The “Operation Warp Speed” summit on Tuesday will address the Trump administration’s plans to distribute and administer the vaccine. But officials from president-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, which will oversee the bulk of the largest vaccination program in the nation’s history, were not invited.
      Both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines have been determined to be 95% effective against the virus that causes Covid-19. Plans call for distributing and then administering about 40m doses of the two companies’ vaccines by the end of the year – with the first doses shipping within hours of FDA clearance. Each of the forthcoming vaccines has unique logistical challenges, including storage, distribution and administration.
      The news comes as states across the US continue to experience some of the worst surges since the pandemic began. On Monday, millions in California went back under the nation’s harshest lockdowns, as Covid-19 cases hit record levels. New York is also weighing further restrictions as hospitalisations climb.
      Health officials are warning Americans not to let their guard down, even with a vaccine on the horizon. Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said that “without substantial mitigation, the middle of January can be a really dark time for us”. More

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      in US Politics

      Congress to pass shutdown-averting bill to continue coronavirus stimulus talks

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      Congress is poised to pass a stopgap funding measure that will avert a government shutdown and provide lawmakers more time to negotiate an emergency coronavirus stimulus legislation amid deepening economic pain.Negotiations over a $1.4tn catch-all spending package are playing out alongside bipartisan efforts to pass long-delayed Covid-19 economic relief.Congressional leaders hope to attach the stimulus bill to the must-pass spending bill, though several key sticking points remain.On Monday, the Democratic House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, said that the House would vote on Wednesday on a one-week spending bill, known as a continuing resolution (CR), to avoid a government shutdown while lawmakers race to reach an agreement. Government funding for federal agencies is due to expire on Friday.Hoyer had initially told lawmakers that the House would finalize its end-of-year business this week, allowing lawmakers to leave Washington for the year, but negotiations over the omnibus spending bill were proceeding more slowly than he had hoped.“I am disappointed that we have not yet reached agreement on government funding,” Hoyer wrote on Twitter. “The House will vote on Wednesday on a one-week CR to keep government open while negotiations continue.”A bipartisan group of senators expressed optimism about a $908bn aid proposal to help alleviate the financial disaster facing millions of American families and businesses as a rise in coronavirus cases threatens the labor market, which has struggled to fully recover from the economic downturn that followed the pandemic’s arrival in March.But their plan, the details of which could be released as early as Monday, remains hung up over provisions to aid states and localities, a Democratic priority, and liability protections for businesses from Covid-related lawsuits, which Republicans want.The proposal is less than half of the $2.2tn relief package passed by the Democratic-controlled House in October and does not include the direct payments to Americans that Trump sought before the election.Yet the senators’ plan is nearly double the $500bn package proposed by the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who advocated a list of “targeted” relief provisions he said the president would sign.Lawmakers quickly enacted a $3tn aid package to salvage the economy earlier this year, but they have been deadlocked for months over whether to approve another stimulus plan.President-elect Joe Biden has urged Congress to act immediately and endorsed the senators’ bipartisan framework, calling it a “down payment” that would provide immediate relief to those suffering the economic consequences of the virus. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, also tentatively expressed support, saying they would use the plan as a “framework” for their negotiations with Republican leaders, which are proceeding on a different track from the talks with the senators. On Monday, the White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the Trump administration and Congress were nearing an agreement on aid.“We are moving in the right direction, I think,” Kudlow said in an online interview with the Washington Post. “We are getting closer.”The US Chamber of Commerce said in a new memo to Congress that failure to enact relief would risk a “double-dip recession” – which occurs when a recession is followed by a brief recovery and then another recession – that would permanently shutter small businesses and leave millions of Americans with no means of support.The same issues have blocked coronavirus relief legislation for months, leading to mounting frustrations among business owners, unions, state and local government officials, and ordinary Americans.Considering the weakening of the economy coupled with a surge in Covid-19 cases at a time when previously approved relief mechanisms are due to expire, it would be “stupidity on steroids if Congress doesn’t act”, said the Democratic senator Mark Warner, a member of the bipartisan group that wrote the proposal, to CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.A group of emergency aid programs implemented in response to the pandemic, including additional unemployment benefits and a moratorium on renter evictions, is due to expire at the end of December.With US coronavirus deaths topping 283,000 and pressure mounting for aid to a fragile economy, the new package is expected to include fresh emergency assistance for small businesses, unemployment benefits, and funding for Covid-19 vaccine distribution.“We have to get something done for the American people,” Schumer said in a floor speech on Monday, “before the end of the year.” More