| President Trump on Monday said he will restart the U.S. economy with business activity and everyday life within weeks rather than months, asserting the COVID-19 mortality rate is low enough to balance against what he called the life-and-death risks of rising unemployment and a recession or worse. “It’s not going to be three or four months,” Trump said during a nearly two-hour briefing at the White House on Monday evening in which he signaled his desire to lift, perhaps in a week, the government’s 15-day national shelter-in-place advisory to mitigate the contagion. “We can do two things at the same time,” the president said, referring to his desire to revive U.S. business activity while also responding to “hot spots” of infection in New York, California, Washington and other states. Trump likened the evolving U.S. COVID-19 mortality rate, which he predicted will be less than 1 percent, to what Americans have come to shrug off from influenza annually or the toll from automotive accidents. “The mortality rate is a big thing to me,” he said, noting that while any death from the virus is “terrible,” the halt to business, travel, school and congregating in the United States poses life-or-death risks that he said include suicides. The Washington Post: Trump says he may soon push businesses to reopen. Reuters: Cities, states are desperate for coronavirus help and the U.S. military prepares even as Trump considers heading in the opposite direction. When asked if he will seek the concurrence of his public health advisers, including Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, and Deborah Birx, coordinator of the president’s coronavirus health policies, Trump said, “I certainly listen to them and others that we have who are doing a good job. … Ultimately it’s a balancing act.” The Hill: The president said the United States and its economy are not “built to be shut down.” The Hill: Senate on the cusp of a stimulus deal after agreements reached for key provisions. The president said he continues to support Congress’s efforts to send him the largest fiscal stimulus measure in history, even as he envisions airlines, cruise lines, hotels, small businesses and commercial activities reawakening within weeks to welcome Americans back to work. The federal government would continue to help states and localities that experience high infection rates, such as New York City, Trump added. But he did not explain if the federal government would continue to mobilize federal assets if he lifts the national emergency declaration and public health emergency order he imposed across the country. The United States has confirmed at least 46,450 cases of the coronavirus as testing ramps up around the country and numbers spike each day. Fatalities from the respiratory disease number 593, according to the latest information. Birx, speaking to reporters alongside Trump, said public health experts believe the U.S. data, along with information from China, South Korea and Italy, show that patients most at risk of death from the virus also suffer from underlying health vulnerabilities or are older than 50. In Europe, less than 1 percent of those who died were younger than 50, she added. Currently, 34 percent of the U.S. population is 50 or older. Politico: Trump’s new 2020 reality: Nothing matters but his coronavirus response. Niall Stanage: The Memo: Trump's coronavirus briefings face criticism. In the Senate, lawmakers were close to a deal on a nearly $2 trillion economic relief package after a day of partisan bickering. Senate Democrats on Monday voted against a bill for a second day after more than three days of intense negotiations. While exiting Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) office, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said negotiators were “very close” to an accord. Schumer and Senate Democrats were concerned about $500 billion included in the package intended for loans and loan guarantees for corporations affected by the virus and its fallout. Some Democrats referred to it as a “slush fund” because under the draft legislation, the Treasury Department would have the authority to dole out the funding. The differences over the package, which was written largely by the Senate GOP, reached a crescendo on Monday when Schumer, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others prepared to vote once again to start debate on the legislation. After McConnell opened the Senate with a scorched-earth speech against Democrats for holding up the bill, Schumer objected when Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) sought permission to speak. “This is unbelievable,” Collins said into her microphone. Later on, Collins told Schumer that his move to object was “appalling.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), who was standing at the front of the chamber, could be overheard calling the maneuvers “bullshit.” Schumer and McConnell shortly after weighed in and agreed to a floor schedule (The Hill). The second vote to start debate went down 49-46, with Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) the only Democrat to join Republicans. Five Republican senators are in self-quarantine (The Hill). The stimulus package aims to help individuals and businesses who have been affected by the virus. The bill would give $1,200 to American adults making under $75,000 and an additional $500 per child, and boost unemployment benefits while also aiding hospitals and the healthcare industry (The Washington Post). The Washington Post: Six days: Tracking Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) from coronavirus testing to positive diagnosis. In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) unveiled a plan in excess of $2.5 trillion that would give $1,500 to individuals, expand funding for unemployment insurance, offer student loan relief, expand food stamps and bar corporations that receive federal help from buying back stocks or firing employees, among other provisions. The bill also requires corporations that receive loans to pay workers a $15-per-hour minimum wage (The Hill). “Democrats take responsibility for our workers,” Pelosi said. “We require that any corporation that takes taxpayer dollars must protect their workers’ wages and benefits — not CEO pay, stock buybacks or layoffs.” The Hill: Key House chairman cautions against remote voting, suggests other options amid coronavirus outbreak. 
© Getty Images The Hill: The Federal Reserve rewrites the crisis playbook. Bloomberg News: Top economists see echoes of the Depression in the sudden U.S. stop. Gouging & scams: Trump on Monday signed an executive order to tap the Defense Procurement Act to allow the Justice Department to crack down on price gouging and hoarding of “scarce” supplies during the COVID-19 emergency. The president still has not used the 1950 act to order the private sector to produce ventilators, masks, personal protective equipment or other scarce hospital supplies (The Hill). … The government warns Americans about virus scammers who are preying on many, including the elderly (The Associated Press). More in Congress: Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-Minn.) husband, John Bessler, is hospitalized with COVID-19 after positive test results on Monday. The Democratic senator, in a statement, described her husband coughing blood and struggling to breathe. She added she has not been tested because she does not qualify under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines (The Hill). | 
