NITA LOWEY

While Democrats favored bigger checks, Congress had settled on smaller $600 payments in a compromise over the big year-end relief bill Trump reluctantly signed into law. The vote was a stunning turn of events from just days ago, when House Republicans blocked Trump's demands during a Christmas Eve session. After the robust House vote, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer warned, “There is no good reason for Senate Republicans to stand in the way.”“There’s strong support for these $2,000 emergency checks from every corner of the country," Schumer said in a statement. The bipartisan bill negotiated by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had already passed the House and Senate by wide margins. Most House Republicans simply shrugged off Trump's push, 130 of them voting to reject the higher checks that would pile $467 billion in additional costs.

(AP Photo/John Flesher)WASHINGTON – Education Secretary Betsy DeVos planned a “Moms for Trump” rally in her home state of Michigan. It's long been one of the benefits of incumbency that a president can enlist his Cabinet to promote administration accomplishments. “The Trump administration has completely obliterated that line," said Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight, which describes itself as a nonpartisan watchdog organization. "The White House is now the seat of government, where the president lives, and one of his chief campaign props. “The Trump administration takes the Hatch Act seriously and all events are conducted in compliance with the law,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said.

REUTERS/Yuri GripasWere close, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters after negotiating through the night, as the growing outbreak rattled Americans and unnerved financial markets. As Republican leaders in the House met to discuss the package, Mnuchin, who has served as the Republican Trump administrations point person on the economic aid package, predicted they would support it. The two sides are trying to hammer out an agreement on an economic aid package to follow the $8.3 billion Congress approved last week for vaccines and other disease-fighting measures. Republicans in the House and Senate have balked at many of the Democrats proposals, particularly their proposal to provide paid leave for employees. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone declined to comment on negotiations after meeting with Pelosi but said he expected a vote on legislation later on Friday.

FILE PHOTO: SAR High School which has been shut down due to Coronavirus is pictured in the Bronx borough of New York City, New York, U.S., March 3, 2020. The four new cases include three family members of the man, who is hospitalized, New York Mayor Bill De Blasio said in a statement. The fourth was a neighbor of the infected family, bringing the total of confirmed cases in New York state to six. The area has the largest concentration of coronavirus cases detected to date in the United States. Thats what weve seen in other places and thats where the situation is most problematic.At least one school in the Bronx neighborhood of New York City closed on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of the U.S. House of Representatives committee in charge of spending expects the entire chamber to take up an emergency bill on the coronavirus on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning at the latest. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey said on Wednesday the bill would total a little over $8 billion.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Transportation supports the rehabilitation of a century-old New York City-area rail tunnel that was damaged in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy flooded parts of the city, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao told lawmakers on Thursday. Chao told a panel of the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee that the department is working closely with Amtrak to advance rehabilitation work on the existing Hudson Tunnel. The Hudson Tunnel, also known as the North River Tunnel, spans the Hudson River to connect Manhattan and New Jersey. Along with rehabilitation of the existing tunnel, the building of a second Hudson River Tunnel and the logistics of scheduling the two projects has been an issue. 21ST CENTURY TUNNELSThe construction of a new Hudson River tunnel is part of Amtraks proposed Gateway project that encompasses a number of projects along the Northeast Corridor.

Congressional Democrats, who opposed Trumps past diversion of billions of dollars in military spending to the border wall project, said the decision was dangerous and misguided. Last month, the Pentagon received a request from within the Trump administration to build roughly 270 miles (435 km) of wall on the border, which would have cost about $5.5 billion. Slideshow (2 Images)The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, said it would challenge the latest border wall transfer. The Trump administration has vowed to build at least 400 miles (640 km) of wall along the border by November 2020, when Americans will vote for president. In his 2016 campaign, Trump said Mexico would pay for the wall.

Negotiations on a package of spending bills to fund the federal government have produced a key breakthrough, though considerably more work is needed to wrap up the long-delayed measures. Trump has little interest in the often-arcane appropriations process, other than to obtain wall funding and to boast about record Pentagon funding. The annual spending bills are, however, a top priority for top lawmakers like Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who have wrestled over appropriations for decades. Congress provided just $1.4 billion in wall funding last year. Saturday's pact opens the door to a final agreement by that date, though the spending bundling is probably more likely to spill over into next year.

Negotiations on a package of spending bills to fund the federal government have produced a key breakthrough, though considerably more work is needed to wrap up the long-delayed measures. Trump has appeared to have little interest in the often-arcane appropriations process, other than to obtain wall funding and to boast about record Pentagon funding. Trump has been limited in success in winning wall funding from Congress, where there is relatively little enthusiasm for the project among his GOP allies and strong opposition from most Democrats. Congress provided $1.4 billion in wall funding last year. Saturdays pact opens the door to a final agreement by that date, though the spending bundling is probably more likely to spill over into next year.

The House will vote next week on a measure to dodge a government shutdown for about another month, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Wednesday. The short-term bill would keep the government running through Dec. 20. The so-called continuing resolution would give the Democratic-held House and GOP-controlled Senate more time to hash out longer-term funding bills. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office did not immediately respond when asked whether the Kentucky Republican would back the legislation. The White House declined to comment on whether President Donald Trump would sign it into law.

The bottom line is this: Even if this were the Ritz, the Ritz or any other fancy hotel, the children should be with their families, U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., the powerful chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, said after she and 10 other members of the committee toured the facility. The climate in this country, led by the president of the United States of America, causes fear in the hearts of families, and all our community members around the country.