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

In Washington:

• The possibility of a lame-duck session coronavirus relief deal remains shaky. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) holds out hope, telling reporters Thursday that she wants “as clean a slate as possible” for an incoming Biden administration. But congressional Democrats and Republicans and the White House are still far apart and relations between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have soured. Moreover, some lawmakers think Democrats would rather hold out for a better deal if Biden were to win, while others believe Trump would have little incentive to sign a big bill if he loses. Whether Congress would attach coronavirus relief to a December shutdown-avoiding spending bill is unclear.
• Vice President Mike Pence, leader of the White House’s coronavirus response task force, hasn’t attended one of the group’s periodic standing calls with governors in over a month. He will not join Friday’s call either, POLITICO reports. Critics charge that Pence’s absence shows the administration has abdicated serious efforts to combat the pandemic. But a White House spokesperson defended the administration’s response, saying "The task force proactively reaches out to, meets with, and has calls with jurisdictions across America to ensure they are receiving data, supplies, medication, and personnel," adding that Pence regularly chairs task force meetings and updates President Trump frequently.

• The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it has lifted the U.S. ban on cruises and is issuing new guidance to help companies resume operation over the next several months. Cruise ship operators will be required to test passengers and crew on-board and have plans for what to do if a passenger were to test positive. The CDC no-sail order has been in place since mid-March.

• A CDC vaccine advisory panel was set to meet Friday to discuss issues surrounding potential vaccines for COVID-19. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is poised to release recommendations about who should be vaccinated when potential vaccines are given approval or an emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Agenda items include confidence in vaccines, surveillance after the products are on the market, and vaccine allocation given the limited supply that will initially be available. Panelists will also hear from several companies involved in COVID-19 vaccine development and FDA officials overseeing the vaccine review process.

• States and parties continue to litigate how to manage the pandemic-related increase in mail balloting. A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled 2-1 Thursday that ballots that arrive after polls close in Minnesota on Election Day must be segregated from ballots that arrive earlier, suggesting that future rulings could invalidate the late-arriving ballots. In Minnesota, ballots must typically arrive by the time polls close in order to count. But for the 2020 election, a consent decree agreed to by Secretary of State Steve Simon (D) mandated that ballots postmarked on or before Election Day and received within seven days would count. The plaintiffs are two Minnesota electors slated to vote for President Trump.

In the News:

• The United States reported a record 88,521 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday as the pandemic seeps into every area of the country and scientists warn of exponential growth ahead. “We’re starting to find ourselves on a steep slope of the epidemic curve, so I think you’re going to see cases accelerate,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday. The U.S. continues its upward climb on what’s now the pandemic’s third peak, with cases growing by 5 percent or more in 45 states as of Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

• In September, an eye-popping 865,000 women left the U.S. workforce. That’s four times more than men. Having lost the most jobs from the beginning of the pandemic and now balancing child care, housework, and sometimes remote schooling, many have opted to quit working. Additionally, men are paid more than women at every education level, starkly clarifying the choice of whether the woman or man of the household leaves the labor force. As a result the share of women in the workforce has dropped to 1988 levels.

• The Federal Reserve has lowered the barriers on its Main Street Lending Program aimed at helping small- and medium-sized firms get through the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fed on Friday said it will cut the minimum loan size to $100,000 from $250,000 and will ease restrictions on debt for companies already participating in the Paycheck Protection Program. The program thus far has issued nearly 400 loans for a total of $3.7 billion. The total capacity of the MSLP is $600 billion, thanks to $75 billion in collateral from the Treasury Department that can be leveraged up.

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