Washington keeps small business subsidies available

The Senate passed an extension to the Payroll Protection Program just hours before it was set to lapse on Tuesday. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., succeeded in gaining unanimous approval to push back the deadline for small businesses to apply for coronavirus relief through Aug. 8. About $130 billion remains in the program’s budget after the Senate replenished the fund in late April. The House and President Donald Trump are expected to support the measure.

What else is Washington doing on the coronavirus front? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services struck a deal with Gilead Sciences for 500,000 treatment courses of remdesivir—most of the California biopharmaceutical company’s planned production in July and August. The antiviral drug is the only one currently licensed to treat COVID-19 in the United States and the European Union.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew about the debate over whether churches should accept aid money from the federal government’s stimulus package.