In a late night Tweet Monday, President Trump announced that he would be issuing an executive order suspending immigration to the United States. Details of the executive order, including what counts as “immigration” under this executive order, are not available at this point.
Additional information about the development is available here in The New York Times, the Washington Post, and Politico.
The Senate is scheduled to come into session at 4 PM ET today, signaling that the Administration and Congressional Democrats have almost finalized a deal on a supplement package to “Phase 3,” the CARES Act. The legislation that was being hammered out overnight is approximately $500 billion in total and was prompted primarily by the program designed to help small businesses in the CARES Act running out of money.
This new bill includes an infusion of approximately $300 billion for the small business program and includes, among other provisions, additional funds for hospitals and to expand testing capabilities. While there is no new funding for states and localities, it does allow for more flexibility for those entities to use the $150 billion they received in CARES.
Anticipating Senate passage, the House leadership has alerted House members that a vote could take place on the measure on Thursday, allowing enough time for them to get back to D.C. Like the vote on the CARES Act, which could not be passed by “unanimous consent” because of an objection, a recorded vote on this measure may be needed as well.
Read more about the developments in the Washington Post and here in Politico.
Even with this package being finalized, conversations about a “Phase 4” bill are still taking place.
The White House Office of Management and Budget yesterday issued guidance (M-20-20) that enables federal agencies to to “repurpose their federal assistance awards (in whole or part) to support the COVID-19 response, as consistent with applicable laws.”
The memo states, in part, the following:
As an example of this flexibility, agencies may allow recipients to donate medical equipment (including, but not limited to, personal protective equipment, medical devices, medicines, and other medical supplies) purchased with Federal assistance funds to hospitals, medical centers, and other local entities serving the public for COVID-19 response. This class exception also extends to the donation of other resources (such as labor, supplies, and contract services) funded under Federal financial assistance to support COVID-19 emergency response activities.
In a letter sent earlier today, higher education associations asked the State Department for further guidance and assistance on the hurdles faced by international students, faculty, and staff at colleges and universities across the nation.
While acknowledging clarity and needed guidance that provided in some areas, the letter also highlights the fact a number of other problems still remain. Read the letter here.
On top of the proposals aimed at direct institutional and student needs as well as needs in the research arena, the higher education community has also pulled together a set of tax proposals that seeks to address additional challenges.
One of the top priorities in the package is the request that public entities, including public universities, become eligible to take advantage of the tax credits available to employers that provide paid sick and emergency family and medical leave for employees who are facing COVID-19-related issues. “Phase 2” required all public employers as well as private employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide paid sick and emergency family and medical leave. At the same time, the bill created tax credits for the same set of private sector employers but explicitly prohibited public employers from being eligible for the credits.