Dear Friends -

Negotiations over a fourth Coronavirus recovery package came to an abrupt halt earlier this week after a presidential tweet, and the hopes of another large stimulus bill, or other targeted relief, before the election probably ended along with them. Though we’re not sure these discussions had a serious shot of succeeding anyway – even before Trump’s tweet. See more below.

At the moment, most of Washington D.C., and in particular, the Senate, is focused on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. Senate Republicans are committed to moving the nomination ahead, despite calls from Senate Democrats to wait until after the election. There were concerns that the announcement of three GOP senators – two of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee – testing positive for COVID-19 could disrupt the timeline. Indeed, Senate GOP Leader McConnell announced that the Senate, which was supposed to be in session this week, would be out for two weeks and not return until Monday, October 19. But, despite the positive tests, and the delay in the session schedule, it appears the Judiciary Committee will keep to its announced timeline. See below for additional insights on Judge Barrett’s nomination.