A new coronavirus relief plan has bipartisan support on Capitol Hill

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A bipartisan group in Congress is pushing a new compromise measure that would secure about $908 billion in much-needed coronavirus relief ahead of the holidays. [NBC News / Sahil Kapur and Leigh Ann Caldwell] The bill has the backing of several Republican senators, including Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, as well as Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Mark Warner, among others. It also has bipartisan support in the House. [NPR / Susan Davis and Claudia Grisales] The package is said to include about $180 billion in new money for unemployment insurance, as well as $160 billion for state and local governments and more funding for schools and transit. [Politico / Burgess Everett and Heather Caygle] That $180 billion would take the form of a $300 per week unemployment benefit for four months — far less than was included in the earlier relief package and in recent Democratic proposals for a second bill. [Washington Post / Seung Min Kim, Jeff Stein, and Mike DeBonis] The proposal also includes a temporary liability shield to protect businesses from coronavirus lawsuits. In July this year, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the inclusion of a similar and perhaps broader provision was nonnegotiable. Many Democrats described it as a nonstarter. [Vox / Ian Millhiser] House Democrats passed a sweeping $2.2 trillion relief measure in October, which never received a vote in the Senate. The Senate GOP counterproposal included just $519 billion in spending. [Roll Call / Niels Lesniewski and David Lerman] In the absence of a new relief package, things are looking grim for many Americans. Jobless benefits for some 12 million people could expire on December 26, the day after Christmas. Eviction moratoriums and a freeze on federal student loans will also expire at the end of the year. [Vox / Emily Stewart] It's not clear whether congressional leadership in either chamber will favor the bill. But that might become known soon, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is set to meet with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnunchin Tuesday. [CBS News / Melissa Quinn]

Hospitalizations rose by more than 12 percent over the past week.

“Nineteen states — Oregon, Maine, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Alabama, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Ohio, Rhode Island, Alaska, Virginia, Nevada, Minnesota, Kentucky and Indiana — reported record numbers of hospitalizations on Monday. Meanwhile, California, New York and Arizona each reported more than a 25 percent increase in the average number of hospitalizations, compared with one week ago,” Antonia Farzan and Jacqueline Dupree report. "On Monday, Rhode Island became the latest state to begin sending patients to a temporary field hospital due to rising demand for beds, as residents received an emergency alert on their phones warning them that hospitals were full. New York began directing hospitals to implement emergency measures such as identifying retired staff who can return to work and figuring out ways to expand their bed capacity by 50 percent.” 

But the White House is expected to throw more than a dozen indoor holiday parties, including a large congressional ball on Dec. 10. “The parties will be paid for by the Republican Party … and will cost millions of dollars," Dawsey reports. 

“Trump’s political operation has raised more than $150 million since Election Day, using a blizzard of misleading appeals about the election to shatter fundraising records set during the campaign,” Dawsey and Michelle Ye Hee Lee report. “The influx of political donations is one reason Trump and some allies are inclined to continue a legal onslaught and public affairs blitz focused on baseless claims of election fraud … Much of the money raised since the election is likely to go into an account for the president to use on political activities after he leaves office … The surge of donations is largely from small-dollar donors … The campaign has sent about 500 post-election fundraising pitches to donors, often with hyperbolic language about voter fraud … 

"The donations are purportedly being solicited for the Official Election Defense Fund, which is blazed in all red across the Trump campaign’s website, with an ominous picture of the president outside the White House. There is no such account, however. … According to the fine print in the latest fundraising appeals, 75 percent of each contribution to the joint fundraising committee would first go toward the Save America leadership PAC and the rest would be shared with the party committee, to help with the party’s operating expenses."