Your Daily Roundup for October 19th

Good morning. As the COVID-19 pandemic takes a toll on life in America, our team at Future Majority is tracking the latest updates: 

Will an economic relief deal be reached?

After several months of negotiations, no movement in the U.S. Senate on the HEROES Act that passed the House in May, and abrupt changes from President Trump, the White House and lawmakers on Capitol Hill are in the final stages of COVID-19 economic relief talks before the November 3rd election.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to her colleagues that she was optimistic that a deal would be struck with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. If a deal is reached between those two parties, a bill would move out of the House and to the Senate, where the Senate is currently prioritizing votes on President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. The Future Majority team will be tracking the latest updates. 

40,000,000 cases of COVID-19:

Across the globe, more than 40 million people have been confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 since it took hold at the beginning of this year. 1.1 million people have died from the virus -- and experts say that both counts are likely higher due to underreporting and systemic under-testing.

In the United States, COVID surged over the weekend, with almost 70,000 cases reported Friday alone. Cases are expected to further soar as the U.S. heads toward the winter months and the seasonal flu spikes in the near future, complicating hospital capacity and testing capacity as well.

A narrowing race in key battleground states:

Though former Vice President Joe Biden continues to lead President Trump by nearly 10 points in most national polls, there has been a tightening of the race in key battleground states which will be pivotal in the race to 270 Electoral College votes.

CBS News/YouGov found that Biden leads Trump by only 3 points in Arizona, 50% to 47%. In Wisconsin, Biden is up by only 5 points, 51% to Trump’s 46%.