President TrumpDonald John TrumpMichael Cohen to be released early from prison amid coronavirus pandemic: report Biden assembling White House transition team Top Republicans call on Trump to fund WHO pending director-general’s resignation MORE told senators during a phone call Thursday that he’s open to attaching money for hospitals and state and local governments to an additional $250 billion for a popular Small Business Administration (SBA) lending program. 

Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven MnuchinSteven Terner MnuchinOn The Money: Small business loan program out of money | Lawmakers at impasse over new funds | Senate adjourns for week with no deal | Trump to leave decision on reopening economies with governors With corporations vying for tribal stimulus, some call for resignation of head of Indian Affairs Trump says he’s open to attaching other items to small business funding MORE have stuck close to congressional Republican leaders in recent days in opposing Democratic demands to approve an additional $100 billion for hospitals and $150 billion for state and local budgets but the president on Thursday indicated he is ready for a deal with Democrats. 

Trump told Republican and Democratic senators Thursday that he would be open to attaching additional items requested by Senate Democratic Leader Charles SchumerCharles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerStacey Abrams throws support behind vote-by-mail efforts Former MSNBC host explains why UBI is a ventilator for U.S. economy in a crisis Hispanic Caucus demands protections for agricultural workers in next coronavirus bill MORE (N.Y.) and Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiTop Republicans call on Trump to fund WHO pending director-general’s resignation Overnight Health Care: Trump guidelines on reopening to let governors make decision | Trump approach garners mixed reviews | Senate adjourns without deal on small business loans 14 things to know about coronavirus for today MORE (D-Calif.) to new money for the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program, according to Sen. Roy BluntRoy Dean BluntOvernight Health Care: Trump guidelines on reopening to let governors make decision | Trump approach garners mixed reviews | Senate adjourns without deal on small business loans Trump faces roadblocks with threat to adjourn Congress Trump says he’s open to attaching other items to small business funding MORE (R-Mo.), who participated in the call.

Republican leaders have insisted until now the $250 billion for the small-business lending program be approved by itself. 

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The Senate convened briefly Thursday afternoon for a pro forma session during which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellCalifornia to provide food industry employees with two weeks paid leave Trump faces roadblocks with threat to adjourn Congress On The Money: Small business loan program out of money | Lawmakers at impasse over new funds | Senate adjourns for week with no deal | Trump to leave decision on reopening economies with governors MORE (R-Ky.) formally postponed the date for lawmakers to return to Washington to May 4.

He adjourned without taking any action on the Paycheck Protection Program, which exhausted its $349 billion appropriation earlier in the day. 

The Senate’s next pro forma session is scheduled for April 20 when it could approve any deal reached between McConnell, Mnuchin, Schumer and Pelosi. In the meantime, however, the SBA will not be able to approve any additional small-business loans.

“I was on a conference call with a number of Democrats and Republicans from the Congress this morning with the president when Secretary Mnuchin told the president we are now officially out of money for the Paycheck Protection Program,” Blunt said.

Blunt said Trump expressed hope “that Democrats and Republicans can work together to find a solution here.”

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“That may involve something in addition to just advancing the Paycheck Protection Plan,” Blunt added.

Asked to clarify that Trump did indeed express openness to additional funding for programs other than the small-business lending initiative, Blunt replied: “yes.”

“It’s been a full week now since the president asked for an increase [for] Paycheck Protection. It’s very possible it’s now obvious that something else has come up. I would think that money for rural hospitals and other hospitals that didn’t benefit as much as they should have from that first distribution … would be in place to have that discussion,” he added.

“This is something that Democrats and Republicans at the leadership level should be able to figure out what is it that we really need to do right now,” he said. “We know that’s Paycheck Protection. Apparently the president’s open to discussing another topic or two.”

The SBA reported Wednesday night that there have been more than 1.5 million small-business loans approved under the Paycheck Protection Program with more than 4,900 lending institutions participating.

Defense Secretary Mark EsperMark EsperForeign powers test US defenses amid coronavirus pandemic Pentagon to extend troop movement freeze to June 30 What analysts are missing about Trump’s Africa policy MORE will extend the travel ban on service members to June 30, more than a month past when it was set to end, the Pentagon’s top personnel official said Saturday.

The new order will be effective on Monday, and Esper will formally review the policy every 15 days to see if the date can be moved up “while aligning with President TrumpDonald John TrumpMnuchin says it was his idea to put Trump’s name on stimulus checks Trump says he will use Defense Production Act to increase swabs for testing Trump’s ex-deputy national security adviser denies being ‘Anonymous’ MORE’s opening up America again guidelines,” Matthew Donovan, undersecretary for personnel and readiness, told reporters.

The original 60-day stop-movement order — which applies to all U.S. forces, civilian personnel and families — was put in place last month in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus among troops. That order was set to expire May 11.

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Donovan said the new order, which has yet to be signed, will include eased restrictions, with more exemptions allowed as the military prepares for numerous permanent change-of-station moves.

He estimated roughly 100,000 people will be moved this summer. Details on which restrictions will be eased were not provided.

Travel for recruiting and entry-level training is also allowed, as is travel for medical reasons.

As of Friday, there were nearly 3,000 recorded cases of coronavirus among service members, as well as another 1,863 cases among Defense Department civilians, contractors and dependents. 

President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate committee to investigate origin of, response to coronavirus pandemic Amash teases possibility of third-party presidential bid Overnight Health Care: Trump fires back at critics during briefing | Trump claims he has authority on when to reopen states | Governors form groups to discuss plans | Fauci offers support to Trump | House delays return MORE on Monday suggested the historic deal he helped broker between major oil producing nations will lead to further production cuts worldwide.

Oil producing countries finalized an agreement Sunday evening to reduce global oil production by just under 10 million barrels a day for May and June, a nearly 10 percent drop in production.

The deal between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major producers like Russia, known as OPEC+, puts an end to a trade dispute that began when Saudi Arabia and Russia flooded the market with excess oil at a time when demand was plummeting due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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“Having been involved in the negotiations, to put it mildly, the number that OPEC+ is looking to cut is 20 Million Barrels a day, not the 10 Million that is generally being reported. If anything near this happens, and the World gets back to business from the Covid 19,” Trump tweeted Monday morning.

The White House declined to provide additional context for Trump’s tweet.

Experts say the 9.7 million barrel a day cut won’t be enough to offset the 30 percent decline in prices, though market forces are likely to drive production even lower.

While the finalized deal leaves little hope of an official 20 million barrel a day reduction like the one Trump referenced in his tweet, other nations outside the oil-producing cartel have said their production totals will drop, meaning global output could decline beyond what was outlined in Sunday’s deal.

“The historic agreement that we saw over the weekend, from OPEC and OPEC+ is roughly 10 million barrels. But that is, in fact, only half of the story,” Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette told Fox Business on Monday morning.

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“There are over 100 countries that produce oil all around the world, and what we’ll see is production declining over the next few months as the world deals with this COVID-19 pandemic. So, when you add up all of the production cuts around the world, we’re going to much closer to 20 million barrels per day coming off the market.”

An analysis by IHS Markit found that global production could decline by as much as 14 million barrels a day as the U.S., Canada and other countries cut production in response to prices that fell from $53 a barrel in February to a low of $22 a barrel in March.

Within the U.S., oil production is expected to decline by half a million barrels of oil a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a figure that could grow to 700,000 next year.

But even the 10 million barrel per day drop is a massive one — twice the size of the deal cut in the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

Trump even promised to reduce U.S. production — despite lacking any legal authority to do so — in an attempt to help clinch the deal.

The OPEC+ deal was initially stalled by Mexico over the weekend. Repeated calls between Trump and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, as well as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir PutinVladimir Vladimirovich PutinWill the OPEC agreement work and, if so, how long will it last? Trump hopes for bigger oil cuts stemming from historic deal The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – States seek plans for economic revival; feds talk ‘hope’ MORE, helped finalize the agreement.

“The United States will help Mexico along, and they’ll reimburse us sometime at a later date when they’re prepared to do so,” Trump told reporters Friday of the U.S. offering to reduce production by some 250,000 to 300,000 barrels a day in order to help reach the 400,000 barrel a day reduction being asked of Mexico.

The bulk of the cuts are being absorbed by Saudi Arabia and Russia, who will each cut production by 2.5 million barrels per day.

“What could not have been imagined is that Donald Trump, who has been a critic of OPEC for years, is the one who put it together. Of all the deals he’s done in his life, this has to be the biggest and most complex,” IHS Markit Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin said in a statement on the close of the deal.

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Maryville Baptist Church in Louisville and its pastor Jack Roberts filed a lawsuit against Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) Friday for allegedly targeting churchgoers with the enforcement of the stay-at-home order on Easter Sunday.

The lawsuit asserts that Beshear violated the residents’ religious freedom by instructing Kentucky State Police to give criminal sanctions to all vehicles in the church’s parking lot on the Christian holiday, including vehicles participating in drive-in services. 

Liberty Counsel, which has represented Christians on the issue of religious liberty, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs in the U.S. District Court in Louisville, saying they were “explicitly targeted, singled out, and punished for participating in a religious or ‘faith-based’ gathering.”

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The police also recorded congregants’ license plates and provided notices for 14-day mandatory quarantines. The notices informed churchgoers that they were required to report their temperatures daily and avoid public places and transportation. 

The state police allegedly did not enter the church, which had a “small number of people … spread far apart in a 700-seat sanctuary,” according to the Liberty Counsel.

Liberty Counsel criticized the governor’s alleged selective enforcement in a release, saying nearby Kroger, Walmart, liquor stores and other parking lots were “packed with cars” and “jammed with people,” but they didn’t receive quarantine notices. 

The group argues in-person services should be allowed as long as the institutions follow social distancing and personal hygiene recommendations. 

Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel founder and chairman, said in a statement that churches have a constitutional right to meet in-person, and the governor’s actions violated congregants’ religious freedom.

“The only reason these people were given notices is because they were in a church parking lot,” he said. “Had they parked in the nearby shopping center they would not have been targeted. This is clearly Gov. Andy Beshear’s discriminating against churches.”

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Beshear said Saturday that he is “not concerned about” the legal battle, the Lexington Herald Leader reported. 

“God gives us wisdom, and virtually all of our faith leaders are leading with that wisdom,” he said, according to the newspaper. 

The governor’s office warned that attending church gatherings on the holiday weekend would classify as a misdemeanor violation, in a press release two days before Easter.

Other congregants of the church filed a federal lawsuit last week against Beshear and other officials for violating their freedom of religion and to travel. These plaintiffs seek to reach class-action status, according to the Herald Leader.

Ahead of Easter, a judge ruled that Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer’s attempts to ban drive-in services at On Fire Christian Center were unconstitutional, granting the church a temporary restraining order. 

Churches across the country are challenging stay-at-home orders that ban them from meeting in-person. Some states have designated worship services as essential, while others have not.

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (UDSA) is facing growing pressure to ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply during the coronavirus outbreak.

Experts who spoke to The Hill stressed that the food supply was safe now. But they also pointed to growing challenges for the USDA as food industry workers fall sick and inspectors scramble for limited resources, questioning whether officials responsible for food supply safety are ready for the task at hand.

Experts noted that the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has recalled only one product over the last two months. On Feb. 8, a product from Family Traditions Meat Company was recalled due to misbranding. But there were no other recalls until April 10, when the USDA recalled chicken bowls from Conagra Brands over possible foreign matter contamination and pork products from Jowett Farms for missing some inspections. 

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Recalls, though, were flowing in regularly before February, with five in January, four in December, four in November and three in October.

Those who spoke to The Hill were careful to note that there were no signs food safety has been compromised during the pandemic but urged officials to stay vigilant and found the gap in recalls puzzling.

“I do think that it is unusual that there were no recalls during that time frame,” said Donald Schaffner, a professor of food microbiology at Rutgers University.

“COVID-19 has been a distraction,” Schaffner added, but he cautioned that the pandemic “has probably not directly impacted food safety yet.”

Benjamin Chapman, food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University, agreed that the outbreak could be a distraction with people off work or at home and more resources being devoted to the immediate pandemic response.

“Since COVID-19 is such a huge focus for everyone, not just the food industry, I can see how we all might be a bit distracted from the normal day-to-day operations of the food system,” Chapman said. “But I would say that in the short term the distractions are likely not leading to changes in food safety.”

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Still, the lack of recalls comes at a troubling time as concerns about food safety grow. Those worries have gained attention in recent days with the closing of meat processing plants where workers have contracted the coronavirus. Pork processor Smithfield Foods closed two more plants, one in Cudahy, Wis., and one in Martin City, Mo., this week, and a worker from its closed Sioux Falls, S.D., facility died. Two employees of Tyson Foods’s Columbus Junction, Iowa, pork processing plant have also died. 

The risk from the coronavirus will make it harder for USDA inspectors to continue their work even at operating processing plants, experts said.

As the coronavirus outbreak intensified in the U.S. in March, the agency said in a statement that it would “ensure that grading and inspection personnel are available.”

“It is more important than ever that we assure the American public that government and industry will take all steps necessary to ensure continued access to safe and wholesome USDA-inspected products,” the statement added.

USDA officials wrote a letter to stakeholders that same month saying that the department “remains committed to working closely with industry to fulfill our mission of ensuring the safety of the U.S. food supply and protecting agricultural health.”

Another food safety agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has also seen its resources stretched with the outbreak and scaled back some routine inspection work to protect inspectors.

The USDA told The Hill it remains committed to ensuring food safety.

“At USDA, we are committed to ensuring the food supply chain remains safe and secure. USDA’s Food Safety Inspection workers are on the front line, day in and day out, to make sure our food is safe,” a USDA spokesperson said. The department did not respond to specific questions about the two-month break in any recalls.

The spotlight on the agency and its work is certain to intensify, particularly if more food service workers fall ill.

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Experts were hesitant to sound the alarm on the two-month gap in recalls, noting the many factors go into determining food recalls, but they acknowledged the challenges facing the USDA.

“On the one hand, it could be that there are fewer reports of product withdrawals or recalls because industry members are doing a better job of safely processing the food they put out in the marketplace,” said Richard Blau, chairman of alcohol, beverage and food law at GrayRobinson. “On the other hand, a reduction in reported recalls may be the product of government budget cuts and regulation rollbacks that have resulted in fewer food facility inspections, the retrenchment of government oversight and our reliance on industry to self-police.”

“I don’t think consumers should be too worried about the reduction of recalls. I think there’s typical ebbs and flows,” said Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports.

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Food recalls in the U.S. have become more common in recent years. The total number of recalls increased by 10 percent between 2013 and 2018, and there were 905 recalls in 2016, Time reported.

There are three levels of recalls, with level one being an urgent public health risk, two indicating that a person was sick but not with a life-threatening illness, and three meaning that there was misbranding or incorrect labeling.

Experts worried about oversight with the new challenges from the pandemic.

Chapman said that there is no need to worry about the drop in recall actions.

“A blip in recalls aren’t really an indicator that food is getting less safe,” Chapman said but added that “it’s something to look at.”

Martin Wiedmann, a food scientist at Cornell University, said the lack of recalls could be due to a number of factors that aren’t the fault of the USDA. One explanation could be that there are fewer food safety reports for the agency to investigate.

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“My gut feeling is if people have a foodborne illness right now, they’re just going to ride it out. If you go to the doctor, the doctor has to take a sample, and the sample has to be tested,” he said. “The doctor might be less likely right now to take a sample and send it to the lab because there’s other testing labs need to do right now, which is COVID-19.”

The closing of restaurants, schools and other venues also eliminates another source of information about potential food problems.

“There’s been a tremendous amount of change happening with food distribution systems,” Wiedmann said. “A lot of things have to come together [for a recall], and anytime you disrupt one thing in that system, things are not going to be the same.”

“FDA and USDA are spending a lot of time on COVID-19 too, and they don’t have people sitting around. Could that also add to it? … We have an extremely stressed system, and the same system that deals with COVID-19 usually deals with that,” Wiedmann said.

But as officials deal with the challenges of the outbreak, Ronholm said, consumers also have a part to play. 

“Consumers have to make sure that they’re practicing some safe food handling practices at home,” he said. “Washing their hands and separating fresh product from raw product, minimizing their risk as much as possible.”

Funding for a popular loan program to help small business stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic is nearing depletion and could be exhausted by the end of Wednesday or midday Thursday.

The Small Business Administration has helped issue 1.3 million loans totaling $305 billion through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) as of Wednesday evening, putting the program on track to hit its $349 billion limit before Friday.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has backed loans averaging almost $240,000 each.

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The lending facility was implemented as part of the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package President TrumpDonald John TrumpRepublicans go on attack as loans for small businesses start to run out Warren: If Biden asked me to be VP, I would say yes NFL considers playing in empty stadiums with 2020 season set to start in September: report MORE signed into law March 27.

After a flood of applications overwhelmed banks and credit unions across the U.S., industry advocates have urged Congress to quickly replenish PPP funding before another backlog of applications piles up.

Richard Hunt, president of the Consumer Bankers Association, told reporters during a Wednesday call that lenders would need roughly $1 trillion to satisfy demand for PPP loans.

Hunt also argued that efforts to steer funding toward specific communities and demographics could “slow down” the rescue lending program to the peril of small businesses.

“Lenders, banks should not be given preferential treatment, depending on their asset size or the communities they serve,” he said. “We need speed. So if Congress would just pass what we call a clean bill so we can get more money out to small businesses. that would be ideal.”

Administration officials and congressional leaders are scrambling to add more funding.

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Senate Democratic Leader Charles SchumerCharles (Chuck) Ellis SchumerStacey Abrams throws support behind vote-by-mail efforts Former MSNBC host explains why UBI is a ventilator for U.S. economy in a crisis Hispanic Caucus demands protections for agricultural workers in next coronavirus bill MORE (N.Y.) and Treasury Secretary Steven MnuchinSteven Terner MnuchinRepublicans go on attack as loans for small businesses start to run out Business loan funds almost exhausted as Schumer, Mnuchin wrestle over deal On The Money: Small business lending funds nearly depleted | Trump says White House to release guidelines on relaxing social distancing Thursday | Fed’s efforts on coronavirus raise eyebrows MORE spoke again Wednesday in hopes of reaching a deal to provide an additional $250 billion for the program, as well as at least $250 billion for hospitals and state governments.

Senate and House Democratic staff were scheduled to speak with Treasury officials later in the day.

Democrats say a deal must set aside SBA loans for women- and minority-owned businesses in underserved urban, rural and tribal communities.

They say the $250 billion for the small business lending program must be paired with $100 billion in new funding for hospitals and $150 billion in new money for state and local governments facing budgetary short falls because of the pandemic.

Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiRepublicans go on attack as loans for small businesses start to run out Democratic rep pushes for eligibility for coronavirus lending programs to be extended to chambers of commerce Business loan funds almost exhausted as Schumer, Mnuchin wrestle over deal MORE (D-Calif.), who is working closely with Schumer, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon reiterating Democrats’ demands.

“Democrats know that in order for the Paycheck Protection Program to succeed, it must work for everyone. That is why we have been asking for the administration to work with us to help: the underbanked small businesses and others who are struggling to access the PPP; desperate state and local governments; hospitals on the front lines of the epidemic,” she said in the statement.

“As has been clear since last week, Republicans’ bill which fails to address these critical issues cannot get unanimous consent in the House,” she said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellRepublicans go on attack as loans for small businesses start to run out Business loan funds almost exhausted as Schumer, Mnuchin wrestle over deal Trump threatens to adjourn both chambers of Congress MORE (R-Ky.) last week asked for unanimous consent to pass a clean $250 billion infusion of funding for the small-business lending program but Senate Democrats objected, citing the need for hospitals and state and local governments to also receive more money.

Niv Elis contributed.

Updated at 5:07 p.m.

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is giving a temporary pass to companies that are required to make penalty payments to the federal government, citing the financial strain of the coronavirus.

The new policy, which extends until at least June 1, affects firms that are required to pay civil penalties after entering into a legal settlement with the federal government.

The DOJ first informed its attorneys of the change in a March 31 memo that was updated Monday, and companies began being notified this week.

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While DOJ says the move is intended to “mitigate the financial impact” of the coronavirus, enforcement attorneys who have spent years going after the companies say they were shocked by the blanket policy.

“It’s unprecedented in how broad it is,” said Francis Lyons, a partner with Schiff Hardin LLP who previously worked on environmental enforcement issues at the Justice Department. “I think this policy goes beyond what is necessary under the circumstances.”

The new policy isn’t just affecting a handful of businesses either.

In the last week alone, DOJ announced settlements ranging from a few million dollars to tens of millions. In Florida, a Tampa-based firm was fined $41 million for its alleged role in fraudulently charging Medicare and other government health care providers for unnecessary tests, while care providers based in Ohio and Michigan will pay a combined $14 million for allegedly charging the government for unnecessary therapy.

In another case, a South Korean company will pay $2 million after rigging a bid in order to secure an oil supply contract with the military. And in February, Wells Fargo agreed to a $3 billion settlement after bank employees were pressured to sign customers up for various banking products without their consent.

Critics argue that if companies are allowed to suspend payments because of the coronavirus, they need to show how the pandemic is creating financial hardship.

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“I think it should be a case-by-case policy. They should allow people to opt out [of making payment] if they can show the virus has affected their business. But if they can’t show that I don’t think they should get it,” said Joel Mintz, a former EPA enforcement attorney who later worked as a law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Florida.

“If you’re still getting paid, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t still pay the government the money you owe. It’s because you violated the law that you owe it.”

Companies are still permitted to submit payments if they want to. A letter sent to oil company BP said it was free to do so.

“Nonetheless, if you are prepared to pay at this time, let us know by emailing me and the DOJ attorney with whom you worked on this case,” DOJ wrote in a letter first reported by InsideEPA. “If you do nothing, the government will not seek collection of this debt until after May 2020.”

The DOJ memo is the latest broad directive from the Trump administration designed to ease regulations on businesses during the pandemic.

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In late March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said companies that fail to monitor their pollution during the outbreak would not be targeted for fines or penalties.

Critics called the policy a license to pollute, while EPA argued that its employees would otherwise be overwhelmed by requests to deal with monitoring.

Under the DOJ memo, companies will still have to pay their debt in full and interest will accumulate during any pause in payments.

But Lyons said DOJ enforcement personnel already have the power to grant relief for companies that can show they are facing financial hardships, part of the reason he believes the new policy is unnecessarily broad.

It’s unclear how many companies will decide to delay payment or how much money won’t make it into government coffers while the policy is in place.

“This policy cuts off income to the federal government at a time when there’s this massive spending by the federal government to keep the economy afloat, so you’d think they’d care about other funds coming in,” Mintz said.

But he’s also worried about the optics of the move.

“It kind of sends a message to these companies that you’re letting them off the hook,” he said. 

Ex-campaign staffers for former presidential candidate Jay InsleeJay Robert InsleeFormer Inslee staffers pitch climate plan to Biden, Congress Governors push back against White House on protests, testing claims The scapegoater-in-chief is at it again — and again MORE are reviving the Washington governor’s ambitious climate plan by pitching an updated proposal to congressional Democrats and the Biden campaign.

The new plan is a condensed version of Inslee’s 200-page climate manifesto but contains many of the same objectives: transitioning to 100 percent clean electricity by 2035, slashing subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, creating a Climate Conservation Corps, and revitalizing the economy through investment in green technology and clean energy.

The revised proposal has been sent to the Biden campaign, Democratic congressional leaders and the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis in both chambers, in hopes that some of the ideas might gain enough traction to garner stimulus funding or be implemented if Biden wins in November.

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“Essentially the concept was: How can we take the assets of a presidential campaign, including smart, thoughtful policy and communications and media and organizing capacity, but put it in service of policy and the movement rather than an individual?” said Bracken Hendricks, a former Inslee staffer who authored the plan alongside two other colleagues from the campaign.

They are part of a new organization called Evergreen Action, a nod to both Inslee’s home state and what the group’s founders see as the durability of the proposal.

Jared Leopold, a former Inslee spokesman, described the new plan as “a road map and action agenda of what Congress and the next president can do.”

“It takes its inspiration from Gov. Inslee’s plan, which was designed to meet the scientific need of a national mobilization to defeat climate change,” Leopold said. “This is intended to pick up where he left off on driving the policy and the politics of climate change.”

When Inslee ended his presidential campaign in August, the Democratic field of candidates lost its first candidate who made climate change the top priority. Upon his exit, he called his climate manifesto an “open source” tool for anyone that wanted to adopt it.

The revised version of the plan puts a greater emphasis on executive action than what Inslee proposed, detailing a White House Office of Climate Mobilization modeled after the World War II-era Office of War Mobilization.

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The new office would “forcefully drive” the president’s climate missions and would be “backed by staff acting with the full power and authority of the presidency.” That aspect also calls for efforts “across the President’s cabinet agencies to convene, coordinate, drive, and ultimately hold accountable every federal department to this national mission.”

While the Biden campaign did not comment on details of the new plan from Inslee’s former staffers, spokesman Matt Hill has previously said the campaign was “continuously evaluating and considering additional policies that can build upon the ones Vice President Biden has already introduced.”

With former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenKlobuchar to be next guest on Biden’s podcast Former Inslee staffers pitch climate plan to Biden, Congress Trump says he’d be willing to give coronavirus aid to Iran MORE now the presumptive nominee, some environmental groups are pushing him to be more aggressive on climate.

Biden’s climate plan, which received a B+ from Greenpeace, lagged proposals from Inslee and former White House hopeful Sen. Bernie Sander (I-Vt.), who both called for spending trillions more to address climate change in plans that were described as the “gold standard” for tackling the issue.

Some environmental groups have said they’d like to see Biden call for 100 percent clean energy sooner than his 2050 deadline, and commit to rejecting new permits for fossil fuel infrastructure such as pipelines.

But Evergreen Action is hoping their plan might have a more immediate impact as Congress considers a stimulus and infrastructure package as part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The plan argues that some of the billions being proposed on Capitol Hill to bolster the economy could be used to promote growth in green industries.

“Coronavirus has shown the lie that we don’t have money to spend on climate change. We have money and we could take on this crisis,” said Leah Stokes, an assistant professor of climate policy at the University of California, Santa Barbara who serves on the Evergreen Alliance’s advisory board.

“People dying early from air pollution isn’t good for the economy. Devastating fires and droughts and heat waves aren’t good for the economy,” she said. “These are investments that pay themselves back. We can actually spend a lot of money because we’ll get returns.”

Still, advancing an coronavirus-related bill with key environmental provisions could prove a tough sell in a divided Congress, particularly with Republicans warning against provisions that would stand little chance of being signed into law on their own.

Democratic leaders and the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis did not respond to requests for comment on Evergreen Action’s plan.

The plan also comes as lawmakers have begun to take a broader view of climate policy, Leopold said.

Plans have gone from being more narrowly focused on carbon taxes to more sweeping proposals focused on setting benchmarks for various industries. A discussion draft from House Democrats is in that vein, with a 600-page outline requiring progress in electricity, transportation and buildings.

“You’re starting to see the worm turning a little on the Hill to a standards- and investments-focused approach on larger climate-focused bills that have come out,” Leopold said.

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“We’re at a critical inflection point for climate policy with Congress debating the economic stimulus and with discussion around the Democratic platform on climate change.”

A federal judge has blocked an order by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) restricting in-person religious assemblies to no more than 10 people in an effort to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

In the Saturday ruling, U.S. District Judge John Broomes of Wichita wrote that “churches and religious activities appear to have been singled out among essential functions for stricter treatment,” The Associated Press reported.

Dodge City’s First Baptist Church and Junction City’s Calvary Baptist Church sued over the order, along with Pastors Stephen Ormond and Aaron Harris, according to the AP.

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“Public safety is important, but so is following the Constitution,” Tyson Langhofer, senior counsel for the conservative Christian Alliance for Defending Freedom, which was involved in the case, told the news service. “We can prioritize the health of safety of ourselves and our neighbors without harming churches and people of faith.”

Broomes’s ruling does not lift restrictions on religious services entirely, instead ordering churches and houses of worship to abide by social distancing rules such as standing six feet apart and eschewing the use of collection plates.

Kelly’s office has said at least six deaths and 80 cases in the state were connected to religious gatherings, Eighty-six people have died from the virus in the state and 1,790 cases have been confirmed as of Saturday.

The governor has received substantial pushback over the order from Kansas Republicans in particular, including the GOP-controlled state legislature, which voted to strike down the order in early April, and Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who wrote that the law was likely unconstitutional and discouraged law enforcement from enacting it.

Kelly responded to the judge’s ruling by calling it “preliminary.”

“There is still a long way to go in this case,” Kelly said, according to the AP. “And we will continue to be proactive and err on the side of caution where Kansans’ health and safety is at stake,” Kelly said.

ATHENS, GA — A University of Georgia fraternity has been suspended after a video surfaced on social media that appears to show white members using a racist slur and talking about picking cotton. In the video, one man lightly hits another with what appears to be a belt as one student says “Pick my cotton, b—h.” Two others watch and laugh as the phrase is repeated two more times.

Then another student chimes in: “No, you’re not using the right words.”

The belt-holder then strikes the other man again and repeats the phrase with a racist slur. The video, which Patch has not independently verified, has been viewed tens of thousands of times since being posted Friday.

The students weren’t immediately identified. The national chapter of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity tweeted out a statement in response to the video saying four University of Georgia members had been suspended.

“Tau Kappa Epsilon is disgusted, appalled and angered by the remarks shown in a video of four expelled members,” the national organization said. “TKE will not tolerate any actions such as these that would be defined as racist, discriminatory and/or offensive.”

The organization’s professional staff along with members of the Xi-Lambda chapter were investigating. The incident did not take place on any chapter grounds, the organization found.

As of Saturday evening, the four men involved have been expelled.

The university’s student government group said in a statement it is aware of the video and investigation is ongoing. The chapter has been suspended.

“We appreciate those of you who have been engaging in this important dialogue about bigotry and the ways in which people who engage in it can be held accountable for their actions,” the student government group said.

The university said in a statement it condemns racism in the “strongest terms.”

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“Racism has no place on our campus,” the university said. “We will continue our efforts to promote a welcoming and supportive learning environment for our students, faculty and staff.”