March 13, 2020 04:02 PM UTC

Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives

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• by: Colorado Pols

While President Trump made it very clear that he is abdicating responsibility for the fact that the United States was ill-prepared to deal with the Coronavirus outbreak, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was doing work to make things better. From The Washington Post:

The White House and House Democrats reached agreement Friday on a coronavirus relief package to spend tens of billions of dollars on sick leave, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other measures to address the unfolding crisis.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced the agreement in a letter to fellow House Democrats. “We are proud to have reached an agreement with the Administration to resolve outstanding challenges, and now will soon pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.”

A vote to pass the legislation was expected later Friday in the House, and in the Senate next week…

…behind the scenes, Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continued negotiations that began earlier this week, By early Friday evening they had spoken by phone 13 times that day alone.

Pelosi praised the legislation in a televised address Friday afternoon. “Put families first — today, we are passing a bill that does just that,” she said, laying out provisions of the legislation such as free coronavirus testing, paid sick and family leave, and food assistance for poor families.

And what about the Senate? From a separate story via The Washington Post:

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was absent from negotiations over a coronavirus relief package [Pols emphasis], spending Friday in Kentucky at a judicial event with Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

As a pandemic sweeps the globe, creating economic and health care panic, McConnell shuttered the Senate for the weekend on Thursday, leaving it to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to work on legislation on how to respond to the crisis.

And there you have it: The 2020 election in a nutshell.