Your guide to the latest Hill developments, news narratives, and media headlines from Hogan Lovells Government Relations and Public Affairs practice.

In Washington:

• The Senate passed a one-week stopgap bill on Friday, hours ahead of a government shutdown deadline. The bill passed on a voice vote and moved the funding deadline to December 18. The continuing resolution already passed the House on Wednesday, meaning it now goes to President Trump’s desk, where he’ll need to sign it by midnight. “We ought to pass a full-year funding measure and I hope our committees in the Senate and House can complete their work and deliver legislation next week,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

• The White House has ordered Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Stephen Hahn to approve Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use by day’s end or else resign, The Washington Post reported Friday. The message reportedly came from Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. The warning led Hahn and the agency to accelerate the timetable for clearing the vaccine, according to the Post. Hahn later denied the reports. President Trump earlier Friday publicly pressured Hahn via Twitter to speed up approval early Friday. “Get the dam vaccines out NOW, Dr. Hahn @SteveFDA. Stop playing games and start saving lives!!!” Trump tweeted. A panel of outside experts voted Thursday to recommend the FDA authorize Pfizer’s vaccine candidate for emergency use.

• On Friday, senators said efforts to reach a compromise on legal immunity provisions in a potential coronavirus relief package have failed to make progress, imperiling a broader deal. Negotiating Senators told The Hill that Democrats rejected the latest Republican offer to create an 18-month federal shield on coronavirus litigation. Senate Republican Whip John Thune (SD) confirmed the impasse. Thune said a group of moderates negotiating a COVID deal are exploring Majority Leader McConnell’s suggestion to leave legal immunity and local-state government funding aside.

• Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) are warning they will use next Friday's government funding deadline--assuming President Trump signs a congressionally-passed one-week continuing resolution--to try to force a vote on a second round of stimulus checks in another coronavirus relief package. "We cannot go back to our families during the Christmas holidays while tens of millions of families are suffering," Sanders said during a floor speech. Hawley added that there is "no reason that this body should leave next week before we vote on and approve direct assistance to working families."

In the News:

• New York City will once again shut down indoor dining, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Friday, in an effort to slow the rapid escalation of COVID-19 infections. The ban will take effect Monday, while restaurants can continue to operate outdoor dining areas and offer take-out and delivery.

• A two-day business conference in Boston early in the pandemic was likely a super-spreader event that has been linked to as many as 300,000 coronavirus cases worldwide, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science. Researchers estimate that the conference is responsible for about 1.6 percent of all U.S. COVID-19 cases. According to The Boston Globe, the Biogen conference was held at a Marriott hotel from February 26 to 27 with approximately 175 participants. Attendees later flew to destinations across the globe and the U.S. Many began feeling sick days later.

• Walgreens expects to get its first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine on December 21 and start giving shots to nursing home residents and staff members immediately thereafter, executive Rick Gates told CNBC. Walgreens and CVS Health struck deals with the federal government to vaccinate staff and residents at long-term care facilities, which the pandemic has devastated. Gates said Walgreens is working with FedEx to receive vaccine shipments and has designated some of its drug stores as hubs that will keep doses in special freezers and on dry ice.

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