A bi-partisan group of centrist Senators is attempting to break through the gridlock on a new Covid-relief bill this week with a new $908 billion financial package to stimulate the sluggish economy and provide aid to millions of struggling Americans. The proposal includes $300 a week for unemployed Americans — half the amount they were receiving earlier this year — as well as $160 billion in aid to state and local governments. It also protects corporations from worker-lawsuits over health and safety issues. The Senators, including Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) held a press conference on Tuesday. Senate Democrat Dick Durbin, who was involved in shaping the bill, did not appear on Tuesday alongside his colleagues citing that he would have excluded a corporate liability shield from the bill. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were scheduled to speak on Tuesday afternoon about Covid-relief. There is no certainty that even if Congress were to pass a relief bill that President Donald Trump would sign it. Mr. Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jeremy Powell testified in front of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. The two disagreed with one another about the most serious risks facing the U.S. economy. This is Mnuchin attempting to explain why his department did not spend all the CARES Act funds. Mr. Powell differed. Underscoring the need for relief, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a study showing a 70% increase in people paying their rent on a credit card. And, several families are suing the state of California over growing gaps in how children of color are able to access remote learning during the pandemic. The lawsuit filed Monday contends that, “The change in the delivery of education left many already underserved students functionally unable to attend school.” Nationwide poor and non-white students were found to be falling behind in math instruction as per a new study.

There were 4 million new cases of infection and 37,000 deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. in November alone. As pharmaceutical companies seek approval from the FDA for their Covid-19 vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened an advisory panel tasked with making recommendations about who should be vaccinated first. According to the New York Times, “it is expected to advise that healthcare workers be first in line, along with residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.” Once approved by CDC Director Robert Redfield, the recommendations will then be shared with states. California Gov.