Congress and Coronavirus

A very brief summary of the CARES Act: http://www.crfb.org/blogs/whats-2-trillion-coronavirus-relief-package  (Yes, even in existential crisis, lawmakers cannot resist acronyms.)

Yuval Levin on Congress and crisis: https://www.aei.org/op-eds/the-crisis-congress

We just went through the budget process. So how can Congress suddenly spend trillions? The magic word is emergency.  .https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/444455-federal-disaster-funding-doesnt-have-to-be-an-emergency
Don Wolfensberger on the procedural politics: https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/490106-procedural-politics-what-just-happened-with-the-coronavirus-bill

Proposals for a coronavirus commission -- a case study in crisis legislating: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/06/congress-coronavirus-commission-168195

Congress and the 1918 pandemic: https://govtrackinsider.com/what-did-congress-do-during-the-1918-flu-pandemic-c0bd96ad2287

A good example of a CBO cost estimate:  the second (earlier) coronavirus bill: https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-04/HR6201.pdf (Skim and sample:  I do not expect you to have detailed knowledge of this document, but rather just want you to see what such estimates look like.)