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As the nation closes out a gloomy 2020, there have been a few signs that its political system still can work. First was an orderly presidential election, perhaps the cleanest and most secure ever, that has resisted concerted attempts by President Trump to overturn the result. Second is the compromise covid-19 relief bill that lawmakers raced to pass on Monday, following months of legislative stalemate. Yes, it is imperfect. But it is nevertheless an indication that lawmakers are still capable of shaking hands on big legislation when national prosperity is at stake. (12/21)

Congressional leaders reached agreement on a $900 billion Covid-19 relief bill Sunday evening, but please don’t call this economic stimulus. With some exceptions, the main relief here is for the politicians who want to take credit for doling out more cash to constituents. The best provision in the bill is the limit on potential abuse by the Biden Treasury and Federal Reserve. Credit here to Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who held firm on limiting the Fed’s maneuvering room without a new act of Congress. Democrats are claiming victory, but that’s face-saving spin. (12/20)

Close to one-fifth of the $908 billion proposed in Congress’ long-awaited coronavirus relief bill will be sent directly to American taxpayers in the form of “Economic Impact Payments” — checks of up to $600 per person. The $166 billion devoted to these payments is the second-largest line item in the bill, trailing only the $325 billion for loans to help struggling small businesses. And yet, in the view of some critics, the amount isn’t nearly enough. "$600 is not ‘a lot’ for families,” author Don Winslow said in a tweet that typified the pushback, “and ... the people who said it was ‘a lot’ are detached from the pain of millions of Americans. It will not help them in any real or meaningful way.” (12/22)

The $900 billion pandemic aid package that emerged Sunday from months of on-and-off negotiations between House Democrats and Senate Republicans is a necessary measure that will ease the suffering of millions of Americans. It will help unemployed workers to feed their families and to avoid eviction. It will help small businesses avoid bankruptcy. It will help to keep the trains and buses running in cities across the country. Congress should have acted months ago, and the delay has caused a lot of unnecessary pain. Even now, Congress is not doing enough to meet the full measure of the need. But the relevant question is whether this agreement will help — and the clear answer is yes. (12/20)

At last. The belated $900 billion pandemic relief deal that Congress announced Sunday offers some rare good news during the holiday season of a brutal year and a measure of short-term help to laid-off workers and shuttered businesses hammered by twin health and economic crises. The most optimistic interpretation of the agreement is that despite a tortured process, a deeply divided Capitol Hill finally navigated a way to consensus, pushed by a core of more moderate bipartisan senators who catalyzed compromise in a time-honored fashion. (Stephen Collinson, 12/21)

In his campaign for president, Joe Biden called for a national mask mandate to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Since then, Biden has walked back his call, recognizing that the president has no real constitutional power to implement a nationwide health order; he can only require masks on federal property. (Ben Bayer, 12/21)

On the campaign trail, Joe Biden promised to be President Trump’s antithesis on border and immigration issues. Basically, Biden — whose victory was declared Monday by the Electoral College — pledged to do the opposite of everything Trump did regarding illegal immigration.  So let’s play out what that would actually look like, assuming Trump’s continuing efforts to overturn former Vice President Biden’s election as president don’t succeed. Spoiler alert: It would be like dousing a fire with gasoline. Even in normal times, there’s lots not to like about open border policies. But in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, open borders present another problem: a catastrophic public health risk of the spread of the deadly disease COVID-19. (James Carafano, 12/21)

Earlier this month, just as Florida neared its 20,000th covid-19 death, a bit of good cheer popped into the inboxes of 160 state lawmakers: an invitation (plus one!) to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s holiday bash at his Tallahassee mansion. No masks or social distancing required; any devotion to science or reality could be checked at the door. The event narrowly avoided superspreader status: The state senate’s president regretted his absence only hours before the soiree when a coronavirus test came back positive. Welcome to Florida — America’s sun-drenched State of Suspended Disbelief. From the pandemic’s infancy, DeSantis has conveniently, even diabolically, airbrushed covid-19 out of public life here. (Lizette Alvarez, 12/21)

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Housing Authority (Nycha) are the worst landlords in the Big Apple, according to a watch list released last week by the city’s public advocate. A new report by the New York City Department of Investigation offers some supporting evidence. Nycha is supposed to clean up lead paint in apartments where young children live, and a supervisor certified by the Environmental Protection Agency is supposed to ensure the job gets done right. Instead, Nycha’s managers resorted to fraud and forgery, the Department of Investigation found. The probe revealed that “at least since 2013, none of NYCHA’s lead abatement jobs were ever supervised by an EPA-certified lead supervisor,” the department said in a news release. Instead, “the manager of the Lead Unit pressured employees to falsely sign paperwork stating that these jobs were supervised.” (12/21)