Welcome to The Hill’s daily roundup of coronavirus news.
On Capitol Hill today, Senate Republicans released “phase three” of the legislative response to the coronavirus, a $1 trillion economic relief package. Now they’ll look to work with Democrats on a bipartisan bill.
Over at the White House, President Trump offered conflicting information about a potentially promising treatment for the COVID-19 disease. He claimed the FDA had approved an old malaria drug to treat patients, but was quickly corrected by his own FDA chief.
On the state front, governors are pleading with Trump for more help getting testing kits and medical supplies.
Here’s what you need to know today:
From the White House and Capitol Hill:
- President Trump on Thursday said the federal government would accelerate testing drugs to treat the coronavirus, seeking to project optimism amid a massive spike in domestic cases of the virus. But Trump’s remarks about a specific malaria drug he said had shown promise at treating the COVID-19 disease were quickly contradicted by his own Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner. Morgan Chalfant, Brett Samuels and Jessie Hellmann have the story here.
- Senate Republicans have reached a deal among themselves on legislation for the third coronavirus package amid growing concerns about a widespread outbreak in the United States. Republicans would begin negotiating with Democrats on Friday, and 60 votes will be needed for it to pass. Jordain Carney has more here.
- The legislation includes Trump’s signature proposal to send $1,200 direct payments to the public, despite some senior Senate Republicans pushing back on the idea. Get the details from Jordain here.
- Meanwhile, House Democrats are indicating they want to go bigger and broader than the already-massive economic stimulus package offered by Senate Republicans. Mike Lillis and Scott Wong have more here.
- Frustration is mounting at President Trump’s reluctance to use emergency war powers to accelerate the production of medical supplies to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Congressional Democrats, health care providers and governors said Trump needs to use those powers quickly in order to spur the massive increase in production and distribution that’s needed. More from Nathaniel Weixel here.
- Members of the House GOP leadership team are self-quarantining after two lawmakers announced that they have tested positive for the coronavirus. Top members of the minority whip team — including Whip Steve Scalise (La.) and Rep. Drew Ferguson (Ga.), the chief deputy whip — are among the growing number of GOP lawmakers who have chosen to take precautions after Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) announced Wednesday that he tested positive for the virus. Read more from Olivia Beavers here.
- The House is poised to adopt new voting procedures designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), and while it’s unclear right now what they will be, Hoyer appears ready to use staggered voting to diminish crowding on the chamber floor. Mike Lillis has more.
- Stock markets clawed back deep early losses on Thursday, closing in on positive territory as the government’s plans for a major economic stimulus became more clear. The Hill’s Niv Elis has the story.
- The State Department on Thursday issued the most drastic travel warning yet, a level four travel advisory applying to all countries, instructing Americans not to travel internationally and urging U.S. citizens abroad to return home amid the coronavirus pandemic. Read Laura Kelly and Morgan Chalfant for more
From the states:
- Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) warned President Trump on Thursday that his state could exceed its capacity to treat patients in one week because of the coronavirus. Read more from Jessie Hellmann here.
- The situation in Louisiana is dire, but far from unique. Governors on Thursday pleaded with Trump for more federal help in getting the medical supplies and equipment needed to combat the coronavirus pandemic. While the Trump administration has boasted about the millions of test kits they have sent to labs across the country, governors said that they don’t have enough chemicals, or reagents, to process the results. Jessie has the rundown here.
From overseas:
- Italy has surpassed China as the country with the most coronavirus deaths, officials announced Thursday. Read more about that here.
- Australia and New Zealand announced they would close their borders to noncitizens Thursday in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Justine Coleman has the story here.
And a question: What is “essential”?
- Video game store GameStop believes it should be classified as “essential retail,” and if law enforcement officials attempt to shut down the stores, employees have been instructed to ignore them, according to Vice. Stores that sell equipment for working from home are allowed to remain open, but we wonder just how “essential” the latest Xbox release will be.