COVID-19 Daily Digest

Milwaukee Voters Cast Their Ballot in Wisconsin's Primary Election Today Morry Gash/Associated Press

Today's News: Tuesday, April 7

McConnell Plans to Hold Vote on Thursday Today, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that he intends to hold a vote Thursday on additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program - the program responsible for distributing the small business loans authorized by the CARES Act. McConnell plans to ask for $350 billion of additional funding and hopes for the bill to pass the Senate through unanimous consent so that the full Senate will not have to travel to to vote.

In a letter, McConnell wrote, "It is quickly becoming clear that Congress will need to provide more funding, or this crucial program may run dry. That cannot happen."

Wisconsin: America's Primaryland Wisconsin became the first state to hold a major in-person election since stay-at-home orders were issued due to the coronavirus pandemic. After public health officials advised him not to hold the primary vote, Democratic Governor Tony Evers issued an executive order postponing in-person voting just four days before the election. This order was blocked by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday, then immediately appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that the election will occur and the lower court lacked the authority to extend the absentee ballot deadline. As a result, any ballot not postmarked by April 7 will not be totaled, and many voters have complained that the overworked state employees were unable to provide them with timely absentee ballots.

As a result of the current pandemic, the number polling places has been greatly reduced. How far reduced? In Milwaukee, the state's most populous city, normally serviced by about 180 polling places, there are five polling places in operation today. This has led to extremely long lines in major cities that stretch blocks. In contrast, voters in smaller communities have said that the wait times have resembled a general election and the process has been relatively smooth. Representative Gordon Hintz, the Democratic Minority Leader in the State Assembly said there may have been a glitch in the system and estimates that in his district alone, hundreds, if not thousands, of people did not receive the absentee ballot they requested.

Trump Removes Head of Group Overseeing Coronavirus Funds President Trump has removed Glenn Fine, the chairman of the panel designated by Congress to oversee the dispersal of corporate loans authorized by the CARES Act, and replaced him with EPA Inspector General Sean O'Donnell. As we noted when the CARES Act was passed, this legislation provided zero Congressional funding for the oversight program, which Congress is expected to address in future legislation.

The Capital's Punishment Yesterday, Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia saw the biggest increase in COVID-19 deaths thus far, and over the past week, the metropolitan area has seen a 114 percent increase in confirmed coronavirus cases. This has sparked concern from government officials that the DC region could be one of the nation's next hot spots and have warned hospitals to for that eventuality.

In the last four days, there has been an average of 393 new cases in the region daily, totaling over 8,900 cases and upwards of 185 deaths. Data released by the DC government reveals that coronavirus has disproportionately affected black residents in the city with death rates highly concentrated in black communities.

Navy Secretary Resigns According to , "Acting Navy Secretary resigned after denouncing Captain Brett Crozier to the USS Theodore Roosevelt's crew."

Captain Crozier, the former commander of the USS Roosevelt, sounded the alarm two weeks ago about a COVID-19 outbreak on the aircraft carrier and was subsequently relieved of his command.

The General Malaise That Only the Genius Possess and the Insane Lament Dana White Securing Private Island for UFC Fights ... "Fights Every Week"

UFC President Dana White announced this week that he is securing a private island in order to host international MMA fights in an effort to provide entertainment to Americans badly missing televised sports. While the island's location remains top secret, he plans to fly fighters to the island and hold fights every week for two months starting on April 18.

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