Yesterday President Donald Trump announced “Guidelines for Opening Up America Again,” which sets criteria for individual states and localities to make decisions about whether and how to reopen businesses and allow public activities.

This week Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called for an additional $250 billion for the Payment Protection Program (PPP) through bipartisan legislation cosponsored by Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Susan Collins (R-ME), Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

First and most important, we hope you and your families are healthy. GrayRobinson personnel are working remotely, as required by stay-at-home orders in the District of Columbia and Florida. It’s been a busy week, as everyone scrambles to implement the CARES Act and to figure out exactly how individuals and businesses can access the law’s relief provisions.

As you’ve heard, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act this week, a document of well over 800 pages that includes approximately $2 trillion in direct aid and loans to individuals, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, corporations, and state and local governments.

First and most important, we hope you are healthy and taking steps to remain so. The Senate did not go into recess this week, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says they will not do so any time soon. Senate Republicans have proposed a $1.3 trillion stimulus package, which is being negotiated now in hopes of a vote on Monday.

This week’s hearings and meetings, originally scheduled to discuss topics other than COVID-19, became hearings and meetings to discuss COVID-19. At this moment, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin are hammering out an agreement on legislation to respond to the outbreak.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell issued a statement this afternoon to reassure everyone that “the fundamentals of the US economy remain strong” despite fears about the possible effects of the coronavirus.

The FDIC has released a supplement to its Deposit Insurance Application Procedures Manual (Procedures Manual) that addresses deposit insurance applications involving unique or complex proposals.

We assume you already know this, but for the record, the Senate voted on Wednesday against the two articles of impeachment presented by the House of Representatives.

President Trump signed the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement this week, calling it an end to the “nightmare” of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which it closely resembles.

The Senate voted yesterday to approve the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. The President is expected to sign the legislation next week, although he has already signed an agreement in principle with the leaders of Canada and Mexico.

Happy new year! Congress returned this week to an agenda even more crowded than they’d expected. The House approved a concurrent resolution directing the President to stop the use of force against Iran. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced today that she will ask House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) to bring a list of managers and a transmission resolution to the House floor next week.